Outrage against budget airline Spirit Airlines has mounted amid a fourth day of chaos which saw 50 per cent of its flights axed, and distressing stories of travelers left stranded at airports.
The Florida-based air carrier canceled more than 340 flights before noon on Wednesday, half of their scheduled routes for the day.
Many passengers, including seven months-pregnant Robin Wilson, were left to fend for themselves. Wilson's intended flight from Cleveland to Atlanta was rerouted to LA. She was told by Spirit that she'd have to wait four days for the next flight, but Wilson did not have the funds to book a hotel to stay in.
She faced spending four days 'living' in the terminal of Los Angeles International Airport, and was only put up in a hotel when FOX 11 reported her story, and shamed Spirit into providing the 'high risk' passenger with accommodation.
'I definitely don't have a flight out from LAX to Cleveland until Thursday. [I have] no accommodations at all…I'm seven months pregnant, I'm high-risk,' Wilson told the network before her issue was resolved.
Spirit began canceling hundreds of flights on Sunday. It has cited inclement weather, technological issues and and 'operational challenges,' but refused to offer further detail. Thousands of travelers have flooded social media with incandescent rage about the airline's lack of contact with them, and accused Spirit's bosses of lying.
The airline's pilots were even rumored to have gone on strike, although Spirit has made no reference to this claim in its comments to the ongoing fiasco.
Robin Wilson (pictured), who booked a direct flight from Cleveland to Atlanta for Tuesday, is now stuck in Los Angeles until Thursday. She is seven months pregnant
Travelers are frustrating as Spirit has canceled hundreds of flights for the fourth day in a row. In the above photo, passengers are lined up at the Spirit terminal in Los Angeles on Tuesday, waiting for news of their canceled flights
Spirit has cited 'operational challenges' as the reason for the delays and says the number of cancellations will 'progressively drop in the days to come'
According to USA Today, a total of 523 flights were axed across the United States Wednesday morning, with Spirit cancellations accounting for the majority of them.
The air carrier claims the routes were changed due to summer storms, technology outages and staffing shortages. The company says as a result of proactive cancellations made Tuesday they were able to '[implement] a more thorough reboot of the network, allowing us to reassign our crews more efficiently and restore the network faster'.
Adding, that the airline is will 'continue to work around the clock' to get travelers to their intended destinations.
It insists cancelations will taper off as the week continues - but those left high-and-dry by Spirit say they'll believe it when they see it.
Brenda Deleon told DailyMail.com how her family's eight day vacation to Puerto Rico had to be extended by two days - at a cost of $1,000 - because of Spirit.
After receiving notification of a cancellation late Tuesday night, Deleon tried to contact Spirit customer service but wasn't able to speak with someone.
'I called last night and was on hold for 42 minutes, but figured they were closed. This morning I went to the airport to talk to someone but the Spirit kiosk was empty,' she said.
The Deleon family says their Puerto Rican vacation got extended from eight days to ten. While they were able to get rebooked on another flight home, the family did have to spend over $800 in additional expenses and accommodations
Deleon called the airlines 1-800 again on Wednesday and was able to rebooked their family's flights for Friday at 2.50am. But, they still faced issues with accommodations.
'Our AirBnb was booked tonight so we looked for another home for $478.41 and two days of car rental for $342.34,' she said.
'[Spirit said] they will refund only half of what trip costs which is not an option since prices with other airlines skyrocketed. We have to wait it out.'
Traveler Sakinah Scott told of how sitting on the tarmac for five hours on a Spirit jet left her fearing she'd caught COVID while heading home from LA to see her family in Philadelphia for the first time since the virus hit US shores.
Sakinah Scott (pictured) says she sat on a crowded airplane for five hours before the plane actually took flight. She was then faced with additional
