Inquiry into Sunwing flight delays expanded to Montreal

The Canadian Transportation Agency is expanding its investigation into complaints of lengthy delays and poor communication against Sunwing Airlinesto include those travelling to and from Montreal.

This inquiry is looking into whether Sunwing treated its passengers in a manner consistent with its terms and conditions, and whether those terms and conditions are reasonable.

The CTAreceived more than 80 complaints about the airline for the period from April 14 to 18.

During that time, Toronto was hit with an ice storm and Swissport,the company that handles Sunwing's baggage and gate operations,was significantly short-staffed.

Initially, the investigation covered flights through Pearson airport in Toronto, but it was extended yesterday to examine complaints about flights at Trudeau airport,saying it appears "systemic issues" may have played a part in the delays.

Passengers say they were stranded at Trudeau, with some dealing with delays of more than 12 hours. Those flying from Toronto complained of baggage missing for more than a week.

Travellers can give a statement

Those who wereaffectedandwant togive a statementmust contactenquete-inquiry@otc-cta.gc.ca by May 31.

Sunwingsaid in an email that it recognizes it "fell short" and looks forward to working with theCTAduring the inquiry so that "corrective actions can be implemented."

Passengers who spoke to CBC News voiced their disappointment with the customer service they received, saying they didn't communicate well enough.

In July, Air Transat passengers endured a similar experience when two of the airline's planes were stranded on the tarmac at Ottawa's airport for up to six hours.

In November,the CTA fined Air Transat $295,000, determining that it broke its agreement with passengers by not offering them food and drinkor the chance to disembark.