<> on May 9, 2017 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Whew, chile! A traveler’s worst nightmare is having a delayed or canceled flight, especially when you have somewhere important to be! Unfortunately, this was the reality for several passengers flying with Spirit Airlines after they were left stranded in Florida after several flights were canceled and delayed. According to Yahoo News, nearly 950 scheduled flights on Sunday and today didn’t happen, which resulted in frustrated passengers remaining inside Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando airports.
Some passengers reportedly waited in line for refunds and other customer service help for hours at the airports, while others camped out at the airport. Passenger Eddie Gordon, and his girlfriend, who was trying to fly home to Philadelphia from San Juan, spoke out about the delays, “First, they said it was the weather, then they said we don’t have enough staff.” With news of the flight delays and cancellations, rumors online have begun that the airline’s workers are on strike, a claim that The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents Spirit’s flight attendants, has denied.
In a recent statement, the association said operational issues were due to weather and technology outages, among other issues. “A few news outlets have incorrectly reported that this may be due to a strike. This is not true. There is no flight attendant strike. Crews are not the issue,” the union said.
Spirit Airlines spokesman Erik Hofmeyer also backs up The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA statement regarding the delays via email. “We’re working around the clock to get back on track in the wake of some travel disruptions over the weekend due to a series of weather and operational challenges,” Erik said. “We needed to make proactive cancellations to some flights across the network, but the majority of flights are still scheduled as planned.”
Spirit isn’t the only airline that has been having significant delays. American Airlines also canceled 429 flights, which is 14% of scheduled flights, which affected hundreds due to storms yesterday.
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