‘Really a nightmare’: Spirit Airlines delays leave hundreds stranded at Myrtle Beach airport
Hundreds of people were stranded in Myrtle Beach over the weekend unable to get flights home until Monday, or even Tuesday, after Spirit Airlines delayed and canceled flights around the country.
The cancellations started as early as Saturday, when Alexander Flores found his family’s direct flight home to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from Chicago canceled. He, his wife and their 1-year-old child were able to get on a new flight the next day, Sunday, with a connection in Myrtle Beach.
But when they landed, the chaos had only begun. Flores said they were stuck on the tarmac, in the plane, for three hours before finally being able to deplane. After that, Flores said his flight to Fort Lauderdale was canceled, leaving him stranded in a city he never intended to fly to. He got a hotel and arrived at the airport Monday for his flight that evening on United Airlines, in the hope of finally getting home after three days of delays.
“There was women, children, old people out here sleeping,” Flores said. “It was heartbreaking. It was something you don’t want to see. It seemed like something that had to do with quarantine.”
Flores, who finally made it home late Monday night, said Spirit hasn’t offered up much of an explanation for what’s happened, nor an apology. He said he has yet to get any sort of reimbursement for his extra travel costs.
“It’s a horrible experience,” Flores said. “It was really a nightmare.”
Spirit Airlines said in a statement that it is “working around the clock” to get its flights back on schedule after disruptions over the weekend, which it attributed to “a series of weather and operational challenges.” Those challenges, the airline said, required some proactive cancellations but that the majority of flights still went out on schedule.
“We understand how frustrating it is for our Guests when plans change unexpectedly, and we’re working to find solutions. We ask Guests to actively monitor their emails and flight status before heading to the airport,” Spirit said in a statement. “As a team, we strive every day to get our Guests where they need to go on time. Our focus will continue to be on taking care of our Guests.”
Spirit said it did not have Myrtle Beach-specific data available for the total number of canceled or delayed flights through the weekend, but the Arrivals and Departures reader boards scattered around the airport showed at least one flight canceled as of 6 p.m. Monday. Myrtle Beach International Airport’s website showed that Spirit canceled at least eight flights on Monday.
According to FlightAware, Spirit Airlines canceled 247 flights nationwide on Monday and delayed 86 more flights. On Sunday, the airline canceled 165 flights and delayed 342.
“The Myrtle Beach International Airport team is aware of the delays and cancellations of some Spirit Airlines flights at MYR due to airline operational challenges and weather,” the airport said in a statement. “We empathize with affected passengers and are committed to assisting Spirit as they work to resume normal operations at MYR. Passengers are strongly encouraged to monitor their flight status prior to arriving at the airport and to contact the airline directly to resolve any flight schedule issues.”
Tammi Ellis, who was visiting with her three children and her aunt, arrived at the airport for a 9 a.m. flight, only to have it delayed until 11 a.m. before finally being canceled. Spirit then offered her another flight out Tuesday.
“Once I saw people kept seeing people with their flight’s getting canceled, I took my money back from (Spirit) and went to a different airline,” Ellis said.
At 6 p.m., she was still trying to figure out where she would be staying for the evening until her flight home to Detroit Tuesday morning on Delta. She had rented a car for her five-day stay in Myrtle Beach but was unable to get it back after dropping it off Monday morning. The region, like the rest of the nation, has faced a shortage of rental cars.
Ellis said she hasn’t ever had problems like this traveling before.
“This was my aunt’s first time traveling. She had the worst experience ever,” Ellis said. Nevertheless, “The trip was fantastic. I loved it. The kids had a great time, the best. I’m not even going to hate Myrtle Beach. That was just a bad experience at the airport.”
