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Airline ends Mexico service results strand of hundreds of travelers

Hundreds of travelers from Minnesota who were left in Mexico after Sun Country Airlines called-off flights cause of a storm at home had to scramble to find flights on other airlines because the carrier had ended its seasonal service south of the border.

Sun Country, based in Eagan, Minnesota, said the flights from Los Cabos and Mazatlan that were called-off Saturday were the last of the season. Sun Country spokeswoman Kelsey Dodson-Smith said the airline couldn’t dispatch another plane to gather the stranded passengers due to it would mean canceling other flights to other destinations. Passengers will get a refund for the return portion of their flight, the company added.

US Sen. Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat, on Monday called on federal transportation officials to inquire into Sun Country’s cancellations and explain what is being done to make sure that airline cancellation policies protect travelers.

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“As many travelers are already financially squeezed by the airline industry, it is troublesome to see a domestic carrier abandoning its passengers in a foreign country, forcing them to find their own way home and to incur further expense of time and money,” Smith wrote in a letter to the Department of Transportation.

Emily Kladivo of Emily’s Travel Service helped the passengers to find alternative flights home. Heather Garnett and her family spent almost $2,000 to fly to Chicago and planned to drive back to Minneapolis, she said. Kladivo said she’s never experienced a similar situation and criticized the airline’s response.

“Weather is out of their control; how they’re handling the situation is in their control,” she said. “Send a plane, go get your passengers.”

Even if the airline couldn’t spare another plane, it could have chartered one or covered passengers’ alternate travel arrangements, she said.

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