Porter Flight 652 from Las Vegas to Ottawa landed during Monday’s snowstorm at 5:05 p.m. Then the delays began.
Ottawa-bound passengers on a Porter Airlines flight who were stranded on the tarmac for 2 1/2 hours just a few hundred metres from their destination Monday night will receive compensation and an apology from the airline.
Porter Flight 652 from Las Vegas to Ottawa landed during Monday’s snowstorm at 5:05 p.m., within just a few minutes of its scheduled arrival. But after exiting the runway, the Embraer 195 twin-engined jet taxied to a spot on the tarmac and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Ottawa’s Luigi Maiorino was one of the passengers. He was returning from a “boys’ trip” to Vegas where he watched a football game and a hockey game.
“It was a really good flight. Once we landed, that’s when the fun started,” Maiorino said in an interview Monday night after he had finally made it to his home.
“I’ve never heard a crew apologize as many times as they did. There were on the intercom every 10 minutes to apologize, but the story kept changing. First it was the plows hadn’t arrived. Then they said it was the hydraulic thing that attaches to the airplane wasn’t working and they had to wait for a new one. Then it was that there was a plane at our gate that was stuck.
“At one point I thought ‘Maybe we should deploy the slides and just go out the doors like they did in Die Hard. Because there were people who had to be somewhere. To be on the tarmac for that long? Honestly, I was getting a little bit anxious. Is there something going on inside the airport that they’re not telling us about? You know how your mind starts to go.”
Maiorino said the plane was about three-quarters full, and despite the delay, passengers, though frustrated, were calm.
Evening Update
“Everyone was mostly just on their phones scrolling,” he said. “I have no issue with Porter. They treated us well. Could they have offered us a glass of wine? A snack? Maybe. But maybe it wasn’t up to them.”
In an email Tuesday, Porter blamed the delay mainly on the weather.
“Porter’s YOW ground operations were challenging yesterday due to a number of issues, including ramp congestion, winter weather and cascading delays, which hampered our ability to quickly offload the aircraft,” the airline said. “We want to get everyone to their destination as quickly as possible, and we understand this was a frustrating situation. Our customer relations team is reaching out to passengers onboard PD652 to offer our sincere apologies and will provide appropriate compensation.”
Ottawa airport spokesperson Krista Kealey said the airport was prepared for the storm and had met with air carriers during the day to plan operations. Despite the holiday, the airport was fully staffed, she said.
“We had a very solid plan to respond to the weather event. Our crews were there to clear and keep surfaces safe. I think there was just some cascading delays on their side,” Kealey said.
“They (Porter) have a big operation in Ottawa and they and their ground handler were trying to manage as best they could. It’s just unfortunate that this particular flight had the delays it had.”
The storm caused a “ground stop” yesterday at Pearson International Airport in Toronto and that delay can have an effect across the country, she said.
On Tuesday, YOW operations were normal, she said.
“The sun is shining and I’m really hopeful that everything will stay on schedule and everyone will get to where they’re going for the holidays, which is everyone’s priority,” Kealey said.
Maiorino spent Tuesday doing some last-minute Christmas shopping and maybe even planning his next trip. That day he received an emailed apology from Porter and a $250 voucher for his next flight.
