Stranded versus delayed
 

Canada's low-cost vacation airline Sunwing ran into a technical glitch yesterday and my news feeds were replete with sad tales of woe from travellers stranded in various locations. There was the usual fury directed at the airline, the whining about lack of communication and the teary-eyed pleas for an immediate solution.

I have no sympathy. The term "stranded" means to be stuck somewhere with no means of getting anywhere else. Unless socked in by weather and everything is grounded the only people who are "stranded" are those who aren't prepared for the occasional flight disruption. Sensible travellers therefore are never "stranded" but are merely "delayed."

"Delayed" implies that my original flight will operate, but the airline has a revised departure time and my boarding pass is still valid.

"Stranded" would imply that my flight has been canceled or is in an unknown state and I have not been rebooked by the airline on something else. That is, I either must buy a new ticket on another airline, take a train, drive, etc. The stranding airline isn't helping me.

I don't know what Sunwing did this time, but I can totally see them stranding people.

I have some sympathy, given how abysmal airline customer service is and how regulating bodies do absolutely nothing for consumers. But I have also traveled enough to know that these smaller operations that position themselves as "low-cost" (whether they actually are or not) carry greater risks than flying a major carrier. Doubly so if their whole business model is flying to destinations popular with mass-market tourists.

concur 1000%, as emphasized and amended

It's a matter of words but if a ULCC only flys a route a few days a week and cancels with 100% load factor, or very near thereto, in theory a pax could be waiting well over a week to be re-accommodated. The airline might just cancel the reservation and hand the customer a refund. Either way that would be "stranded" in my book.

So it's the customers' fault. Lovely. :rolleyes:

What is the customer's fault is their inability to solve their immediate problem which is getting home. They piss and moan about the airline quite justifiably but would evidently prefer to sit in an airport for days on end with no idea of when they will fly instead of finding an alternate solution.

I've had a charter airline let me down. My solution was to go to the counter of another airline, produce my credit card and fly out a few hours later.

Good for you.

Now what about the people who fly ULCC as they don't have a credit card or the means to buy another last minute / expensive flight?

They should get their priorities in order. Get a credit card, make sure there's enough room on it to get home when circumstances demand it and don't engage in non-essential travel until then.

Even for a heavily privileged board like Flyertalk, this post is oozing with enough privilege to power its own forum.

Not privilege but dismay that a large element of society would rather whine and remain at the mercy of a corporation that doesn't always have their best interests at heart instead of taking the initiative to solve their immediate problem and have a contingency plan in place when the best laid plans go awry.

because it's SOOOOOOO much easier to rant on social media (or on an anonymous internet forum) in near real time about how the corporation is screwing them over

Sorry to disappoint you, but there are people out there who do not have the means to buy a walk-up ticket, which is probably why they were flying on an ULCC in the first place. Your demands that they save up large amounts of money, or spend years repairing their credit, before going anywhere, are just laughable.

This is why we need rules and laws in a society - to protect individuals from unscrupulous, unethical corporations that fail to deliver on their obligations to their customers. Our governments are failing us by allowing corporations to have all the power and zero accountability.

EU 261 is a baby step in the correct direction, at least in one region of the world, but much, much more needs to be done.

We agree more needs to be done to make corporations accountable when they don't meet their commitments. Any "stranded" passenger who makes alternate travel arrangements should, within reason, be compensated for any extra costs incurred. But even if paying for the travel out of my own pocket it is a preferable alternative to sleeping on an airport floor with no idea when I was getting home.

I grew up in the 1970s. Most people never flew because flying was expensive. It boggles my mind that people think they should be able to have something just because it's there. I drive a 2005 Cadillac Deville. If I see someone driving a 2022 Cadillac Escalade my immediate thought isn't I'm owed that 2022 model.

ULCCs might be short on price but they're also often short on service. That $59 fare comes with strings attached. Want to fly better-better yourself and you will.