“More work, no pay”: Sunwing cancellations restore fears of ...

Renewed fears of commission recalls are rocking Canada’s travel trade today (Feb. 20) amid Sunwing’s last-minute cancellations on southbound flights out of Toronto Pearson airport (YYZ).

As PAX reported Wednesday (Feb 19), Sunwing, making what it called a “necessary decision,” cancelled 13 outbound Toronto flights yesterday afternoon and, as per a notice posted to its website, will cancel all flights out of Pearson today (Feb. 20).

The company says its affected customers will receive a full refund to their original form of payment within 21 business days, with no further action required.

Providing some explanation, Sunwing said it needed to prioritize the safe return of customers that are currently delayed in destinations due to recent weather disruptions, crew availability constraints and “extremely limited hotel capacity.”

READ MORE: Sunwing cancels Thursday southbound flights out of Pearson

In a notice to travel advisors, Len Corrado, president of Sunwing Airlines, said the safety and comfort of customers “is always our top priority.”

“Making the difficult decision to cancel our Toronto southbound flights allows us to focus our full attention and resources on taking care of our delayed customers in destination," wrote Corrado. "While we never want to disrupt our customers' vacation plans, ensuring our guests currently in destination have proper accommodations and return home safely takes precedence. We understand the impact of these cancellations and appreciate our travel advisors and customers' patience as we work through these operational challenges."

The cancellations come after Pearson airport experienced a temporary shutdown on Monday (Feb 17) after a Delta Air Lines flight crashed upon landing, injuring 21 passengers. Since that incident, flying schedules at several airlines have been thrown into disarray.

Will commissions be protected?

While disruptions are expected this week as airlines work to restore operations, the situation with Sunwing raises a serious question: will the company protect travel agent commissions on the bookings it cancelled?

Nancy Wilson, a co-founder of the Association of Canadian Independent Travel Advisors (ACITA), understands that airlines are struggling this week with cancellations and delays, which began last weekend after Toronto was hit with more than 60 centimetres of snow.

“At times like this, I commend the airline and airport authorities for dealing with everything coming at them under difficult circumstances,” Wilson told PAX.

Wilson is also grateful that the Delta crash was “not a worse outcome than what it was.”

And it’s never nice to see travellers miss out on their once-a-year vacations. But the possibility of travel advisors having no commission protection is “devastating financially,” Wilson said.

“While the passengers get refunds, once again the advisors take the worst hit, having to do more work, with no pay,” Wilson said. “I feel it’s time for our suppliers to offer some compensation to the hard-working advisors that promote their products year in and year out.”

It is unclear what Sunwing’s commission policy is now that it is owned by the WestJet Group. 

The situation brings to mind the winter recalls of 2022 and early 2023 in which Sunwing, at the height of the holiday season, pulled out of Saskatoon and Regina airports (and in Atlantic Canada) to operate recovery flights for stranded passengers in sun destinations after a winter storm crippled air travel across the country. 

“It is more unexpected in a market as big as Toronto,” Wilson said, commenting on this week’s mess. “Maybe all advisors will now be able to relate to what each other have been through.”

She’s calling on travel advisors to bound together “and fight for some form of commission protection.”

“We’ve done the work in good faith”

Brenda Slater, also an ACITA co-founder, is currently in Varadero, Cuba, hosting a large group of clients.

She tells PAX that many have been impacted by the storms in Ontario and also across the country, adding that disruptions have occurred on both departing and returning flights.

“ACV and Transat have fared quite well, with only a few major schedule changes, in comparison with Sunwing, who have had multiple rescheduling, crew time outs and cancellations,” Slater said, sharing her own personal experience this week.

She also points out that it's not just YYZ passengers who are stranded, saying that disruptions are also happening in Quebec and in Western Canada. 

“We understand that weather is an issue, especially recently,” Slater went on to say.

The latest round of cancellations by Sunwing will lead to disappointed travellers, she said, but it also leaves travel advisors “with many questions.”

“Advisors are once again in the position where we have sold the package, managed clients’ bookings, and have performed the associated servicing on behalf of Sunwing, but have no idea if we will be paid,” Slater said. “We’ve done the work in good faith, fulfilled our end of the agreement in taking care of our mutual clients, and now need to do the required paperwork for cancellations, doing double the work for no pay.”

She said the inevitable “you should be charging fees” conversation will most likely be tossed around.

“But in reality, my agreement with my clients is none of my suppliers’ business,” Slater said. “My agreement with suppliers is an entirely different thing. We’ve sold their product, and expect to be paid.”

Slater would like to know if Sunwing will protect commissions and she hopes travel advisors will be seen as “the incredible asset we are to our suppliers and treated accordingly.”

“What do we need to do to position ourselves in a more respected and valued position within our industry?” she asks.

PAX has reached out to Sunwing for comment and clarification. We will a post response in this article once we hear back.

Tense travel  

Tensions, meanwhile, are running high at Canada’s busiest airport.

A video that was posted to Facebook yesterday shows a Pearson staff member announcing flight cancellations to Sunwing customers waiting in what appears to be a line for check-in assistance. Police can also be seen, standing in the background.

The user who posted the video says she was in line to check her bags three hours before boarding when she received word that her flight was cancelled.

Toronto Pearson airport acknowledged the disruption on its X account Wednesday night, saying that a total of 13 Sunwing departures were cancelled that day. Departure boards at Pearson showed that 30 Sunwing flights were scheduled to fly out of YYZ on Wednesday, CP24 reports. 

“Sunwing was unable to reduce its operating rates in advance as requested by the airport, which unfortunately resulted in these delayed cancellations,” Toronto Pearson wrote on its social media. “Our teams are on hand to assist the airline with returning checked-in baggage to passengers.”

This is a developing story.

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