CALGARY — Swoop’s latest round of turbulence has some frustrated passengers saying they’ll never fly with the ultra low-cost carrier again.
Swoop has issued a statement from President Steven Greenway, apologizing to passengers impacted by flight cancellations earlier this week.
In the statement, posted yesterday on Swoop’s site, Greenway says an aircraft has been secured and has returned to service today.
But this isn’t the first time the ULCC has had trouble getting out in front of multiple cancellations, playing catch-up after disgruntled passengers have already voiced their disappointment through social media and news reports.
“On behalf of Swoop, I would like to sincerely apologize for any inconvenience our impacted travellers have experienced due to the unscheduled maintenance to one of our aircraft,” said Greenway.
“Upon inspection of the aircraft on August 26, damage was found on the body and we are continuing to investigate the cause. Given our diligent safety protocols, we grounded the plane for repair.”
The grounding of the aircraft caused impacts to Swoop’s network from Monday, Aug. 26 through Wednesday, Aug. 28.
In total, seven flights were cancelled including flights between Kelowna to Winnipeg, Winnipeg to Abbotsford, Edmonton to Las Vegas, and Las Vegas to Edmonton, Edmonton to Hamilton, Hamilton to Orlando, and Orlando to Hamilton.
Greenway says all impacted travellers have been rebooked on the next available Swoop flight. “If the flight is not satisfactory, travellers are welcome to book alternative travel arrangements. Swoop will reimburse the cost for tickets booked in the same class of service (basic economy) with other airlines. Any travellers delayed more than three hours have received meal, hotel and transportation vouchers.”
Earlier this week, before Greenway’s statement came out, frustrated passengers – who were ready to depart their destinations on Aug. 26 – told Global News that Swoop said they wouldn’t be able to fly out until early September.
One group, in Kelowna for a wedding, were trying to fly home Aug. 26, only to find out from Swoop that the next flight could be as far off as Sept. 6. At that time, one of the women in the group told Global News her advice for anyone considering Swoop: “I would say, don’t fly Swoop.”
Greenway says an aircraft has been secured and has returned to service today. “Safety will always be at the forefront of our decision making and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to our impacted travellers,” he said.
Earlier this summer, in early July, the carrier faced a backlog of flights – and frustration from passengers – after engine trouble with one of its planes, sparking a four-day wave of flight disruptions. At that time the company partly blamed the Boeing 737 Max aircraft grounding for preventing it from chartering other aircraft to accommodate stranded travellers.
