by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 6:10 PM ET, Thu February 20, 2025
A statement from Sunwing Vacations announced that despite the cancellations on Sunwing Airlines on flights Feb. 17-21, 2025 the company will be protecting travel advisor commissions.
The statement reads, in part:
“This past week has brought tremendous operational challenges for air carriers across the country, including Sunwing Airlines. It began with the extreme winter weather events experienced in cities across Canada which broadly affected airport operations, both locally and in destination, and air carriers' flight plans.
The significant weather disruptions also severely limited Sunwing Airlines’ ability to reposition aircraft and crew to other airports to help alleviate the backlog in flights, and adversely limited the ability to reprotect passengers on alternate carriers given widespread flight cancellations. Further operational complexities were brought on due to the temporary closure of Toronto Pearson International Airport on February 17, 2025 due to a runway incident, in which several air carriers were required to divert to other eastern Canada gateways during this time, followed by the subsequent and continued closure of two runways at Toronto Pearson.
The safety and comfort of our travellers is imperative, so to prioritize the safe return of our mutual customers currently delayed in multiple destinations down south, Sunwing Airlines made the difficult but essential decision to cancel flights from several gateways to redirect their resources to focus on bringing them home as quickly and safely as possible.”
It goes on to say that the company recognizes the disappointment and inconvenience the cancellations caused for travellers and their vacation plans, but that getting people home safely was the chief priority, before the bolded statement: “Sunwing Vacations will be protecting travel advisor commissions on all Sunwing Airlines cancelled flights scheduled to depart between February 17th and February 21st.”
The announcement expresses gratitude for the travel advisors who stepped up to help their clients navigate the disruptions. “The travel advisor community is essential to our success in making vacation dreams come true for our customers. At Sunwing Vacations, we know how important our customers’ vacations are to them, and the invaluable role their travel advisors play. We want to express our deepest apologies for the inconvenience these cancellations have caused, and sincerely thank our valued travel advisors for the graciousness and support they’ve shown during this challenging time.”
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