There’s still no word on whether U.S. Airways has managed to sort out a horrific customer relations breakdown, after it kicked 274 of its passengers out of the Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic’s last Friday in the face of Tropical Storm Fay.
U.S. Airways had to cancel its flight from Punta Cana to Philadelphia due to the storm, which had caused the delays of several other flights. Also, some passengers have told television stations that U.S. Airways reps said crew members had run out of hours and therefore could not fly.
Now, the airline will certainly point to its contract of carriage, which states that it is under no obligation to put up stranded passengers and pay for their food in the event of weather delays.
However, it appears the manner in which passengers were treated could have been handled a bit, well, better.
Armed guards were sent in to evict the passengers from the airport, even though none had other accommodation secured. Reportedly one passenger came close to getting arrested after demanding answers from airline staff.
There were no hotel rooms available in the area, and passengers reportedly slept on a bus.
This weekend they were still struggling to get back to Philadelphia as U.S. Airways flights from the Dominican were severely overbooked.
The Consumerist has some video and a few eye witness reports.