DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - A group of Sun Country Airline passengers say they showed up at DFW International Airport two hours ahead of their flight and nobody was at the Sun Country ticket counter. Without an agent, they say they could not print their boarding passes, get through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint and make their flight.
Sun Country Airlines says the customers simply showed up too late.
The drama unfolded April 26. Among those who were unable to make the flight to Las Vegas was Melissa Cadina. The Red Cross employee was making a one-day trip before she deploys on a job related mission. Cadina claims she got to the airport at 2:00, two full hours before her flight.
Her tickets were purchased through a third party, online. She says she checked-in online, but could not print a boarding pass. She found no kiosks at the airport that printed Sun Country tickets so she tried to find a ticket counter agent.
And that's where she says things went wrong. There was no ticket agent to be found.
"I'm calling Sun Country Air because I couldn't find their counter." said Cadina.
What's more she says there were other customers who were supposed to be on the same flight who were in the same predicament. The plane left without them.
Cadina and at last one other passenger snapped selfie pictures with the empty counter in the background. She also saved a screen shot of her calls to Sun Country's main number. The picture shows numerous calls to the Sun Country number.
Frustrated, Cadina called KRLD News. A three party call to the media relations number found one man who said Cadina should call the ticketing number. Cadina explained she had been making that call for more than an hour and that she still hadn't been called back. So KRLD News added a fourth call. The ticketing number.
A man who would only identify himself as Moe said he would take her name and number and have someone call Cadina back. Moe also suggested KRLD News did not need to be involved any longer.
Cadina insisted on KRLD remaining on the line. The media representative disconnected. Moe put the call on hold.
Minutes later, Moe, the ticket agent, was no longer on the line. Rather a woman named Kirsten Wenker joined the conversation.
"I'm just confirming that we will, for sure, call back within an hour and soon as we have more information and answers we will follow up." said Wenker.
Cadina was upset the airline was telling her to wait at the airport for an hour for a phone call, when it was clear the last Sun Country flight to Las Vegas had already departed for the day.
"So, I'm sitting here in an airport for her to give me an answer in an hour? For nothing. Cadina said. "Except for her to give me my money back."
"I assure you we will call you back just as soon as possible. There isn't anything further that I can do for you at this time, until we get more information." Wenker replied.The next day, Cadina says, Sun Country blamed her and the others in the group for not getting to the airport on time.
"They told me that basically, I was lying. That I wasn't there." Cadina said.
Cadina says Sun Country gave her a voucher that was $100 less than the cost of the one-way ticket. She says she lost the total cost of the return flight that was on another carrier. She does not blame that second airline, because she was outside the parameter for the timeframe to cancel and get a refund.
"I believe they are at fault. They owe me more than a $148 voucher." Cadina said.
Sun Country Airlines released the following statement to 1080 KRLD: "On Friday, April 26, our Sun Country flight 121 from DFW to LAS was scheduled to depart at 4 p.m. CT. The check in counter opened at 1 p.m. The last passenger for the flight was checked in to our system at 3:22 p.m. CT. It is our policy to close check-in 45 minutes before a flight, so in this instance, the desk was open past the normal closing time. We spoke with the passenger Melissa later that evening and provided her with a voucher for the full value of her missed flight."
Missed my flight @SunCountryAir because no one was at the desk #nocustomservice #suncountryairlines #csainsurance #fail #discountequalsdissapointment #stuckinairport pic.twitter.com/8GtngAVSU5
— Jeff Gardner (@PastaGardner) April 25, 2019
