Sun Country faces 'crisis' after telling stranded Mexico fliers to find own way home

Ben Mutzabaugh | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Sun Country cancellations leaves hundreds stranded in Mexico About 250 passengers were left to find their own way home from Mexico after Sun Country cancelled their last flights of the season, leaving one couple scrambling to get back to the states in time for crucial cancer care.

UPDATE: Sun Country Airlines now says it plans to reimburse passengers left stranded in Mexico after the carrier canceled its last flights of the season following a late-season blizzard in Minnesota. Full update: Sun Country now says it will reimburse some costs for stranded Mexico fliers

ORIGINAL POST: Pressure is growing for budget carrier Sun Country after it left around 250 passengers stranded in Mexico and told them to find their own way home after it canceled flights because of a blizzard in Minnesota.

A U.S. senator is now calling for the federal Department of Transportation to look into the situation and at least one public relations expert says the situation has developed into a “crisis” moment for the previously little-known carrier.

Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., expressed “serious concern” about the way Sun Country handled the cancellations this past weekend.

The most attention has gone to two scheduled Minneapolis-bound flights from the Mexican resort cities of Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlán. But the flights -- canceled by the Minnesota blizzard -- were the last of the season from those destinations for Sun Country. Instead of extending its schedule or sending another plane to fetch the stranded passengers, the airline instead simply refunded their fares and told them they were on their own to find a new way home.

“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 her letter to the DOT. “This failure to act by Sun Country sets a negative precedent for other airlines to follow.”

Smith added: “Sun Country’s cancellation of these flights left approximately 250 travelers stranded in Mexico. Despite these passengers being refunded the return-flight portion of their airfare, booking last-minute one-way travel proved to be an unplanned and costly burden on hundreds of consumers traveling to my state.”

TODAY IN THE SKY: These are the world's 10 best airlines, according to TripAdvisor (story continues below)

Some travelers said they spent thousands of extra dollars and flew into airports hours away from Minnesota to get back home after the unexpected cancellations, according to Smith.

She implored the DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division “to ensure that cancellation policies affecting airline travelers, especially those stranded in foreign countries, appropriately protect consumers.”

In the meantime, Sun Country has faced a wave of negative press and a major backlash on social media.

Bob McNaney, a crisis communications expert with Padilla Communications in Minneapolis, told KSTP-TV of the Twin Cities the situation has become a "crisis" for Sun Country and its brand.

"You've got people who are probably frightened in some cases because they are in a foreign country," McNaney said to the station. "They're missing work, they're missing school, and Sun Country really should do everything they can to try to get them home."

Jay Salmen, a previous Sun Country CEO who left the airline in 2012, spoke to Minnesota Public Radio about the unusual situation. He also wondered if the current regime could have done more, such as chartering flights to bring home the stranded fliers.

"The 2, 3, 4 planes to deadhead down and bring those passengers back is not nearly as costly, I would expect, as what this is going to do to them," Salmen said to MPR.

USA TODAY TRAVEL: Mexican delight: Beach town fun, colonial charm in Mazatlán

IN PHOTOS: 33 cool aviation pics, from Antonovs to 747s