CanJet Airlines is facing criticism after about 400 passengers were left stranded on a runway in Fredericton for about six hours today when two planes travelling from Cuba to Montreal were diverted due to the weather.
A freezing-rain storm shut down Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, so the planes landed at Fredericton International Airport instead at about 3 a.m. AT, passenger Anne Tetreault tells CBC News.
"I understand that it's winter, this happens," said Tetreault.
But she is upset about the lack of communication from CanJet, she said.
"Now that we're in this crisis, how well is the management dealing with all these people? They have obligations, they have small kids. We need to be informed. I think the key to this crisis is tell us."
Tetreault says the passengers were forced to remain on the planes because there were no customs agents available to admit them into Canada.
"There was no way they could get us out of the plane into the airport because we needed to go through customs. And they needed to find enough customs agents to process all of us," she said.
Three customs agents arrived at about 9 a.m. and the passengers were finally allowed into the Fredericton airport, which Tetreault contends does not have the space to comfortably accommodate two planeloads of people.
An airport official says most of the stranded passengers have since been taken to a local hotel.
CanJet flight crews from Halifax aren't expected to arrive until 10 p.m., the spokesperson said.