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Hundreds of passengers on an Air Transat flight from Rome to Toronto were forced to spend 6 hours trapped inside a plane on the tarmac for over 6 hours. There was no food, very little water and sweltering heat. Passengers reported to the media that temperatures were as high as 45°C.
@airtransat @CP24 @City_tv @globalnewsto @CTVNews
— Brian (@briancosta1) July 29, 2019
How is being stuck on a plane with no AC for 6+ hrs with minimal updates and then you cancel the flight? Inhumane. How is this acceptable in 2019. Air Transat explain yourselves. pic.twitter.com/Q5V37j07pn
The company said Air Transat flight 9309, carrying 336 passengers suffered mechanical issues causing the delay while passengers waited on board for over 6 hours. Some of passengers demanded to be released from the plane which then caused futher delays. The flight was later cancelled due to regulations for crew fatigue.
17-year-old Madeline Massaro told CBC that her friend had a really bad anxiety attack and was released from the plane.
"It was absolutely sweltering. There was no air, no nothing. We all had to fan ourselves. One of the girls in my group, she had to leave the plane because she was having really bad anxiety attacks."
Over 6hrs on this plane with no AC or food…just to get deboarded and shoved in a dirty hotel.
— Ashley gamble (@Ashleyg99974869) July 29, 2019
Thanks @airtransat for the wonderful ending to my honeymoon! pic.twitter.com/emEiZ12DEX
Passengers were then shuttled to a nearby hotel to spend the night when the plane was rescheduled for Tuesday at 1:46 p.m. Passengers were less than thrilled with the accommodations with one passenger telling City News that is was a “garbage hotel”
People expressed their outrage on twitter and one expressed that they were frightened about their upcoming flight.
@airtransat as a passenger on #ts9309 we were told a rep from the company would be at the gate to talk with us from the flight. Never saw the person we were meant to speak with. Who should we be contacting? Or when should we be expecting someone to contact us?
— adam carney (@agcarney) July 30, 2019
This is crazy. I have 2 small children flying with me on AirTransat this week and the fact there is a small chance that this is even possible is frightening.
— Randeep Dhaliwal (@TheRealRandeep) July 31, 2019
Canada's new passenger bill of rights guarantees that if passengers are stuck on a plane longer than three hours than it must return to the gate to allow passengers to leave. For instances of 9 hour delays, airlines must pay passengers $1000.
Since the delay happened in Europe it falls under the Euopean laws which stipulates that airlines must dole out €600 ($877) for long-distance flight delays.
Air Transat has confirmed that each passenger will recieve $900.
Passenger Brian Costa told Global News the money offered isn’t good enough, and is unsure whether he’ll fly Air Transat again.
“The circumstances, the situation — it was inhumane. People get arrested for leaving dogs in a hot car. What about humans on a hot plane?”
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