Air Transat Passengers Call 911 After Six-Hour Tarmac Wait

Consumers and the media were up in arms this week after hundreds of Air Transat passengers were trapped for six hours on the hot tarmac at Ottawa’s airport Monday, July 31.

Conditions became so suffocating on Air Transat Flight TSC157 from Brussels that a passenger dialed 911 after about four hours, causing paramedics, airport officials and the police to board the plane.

The flight was bound for Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport from Brussels, but poor weather conditions forced it to be diverted to Ottawa, where Air Transat said gate space wasn’t immediately available.

One news report quoted a passenger saying they were told they would only be delayed on the ground for 30 minutes to refuel and head back to Montreal, but that delay extended to nearly six hours. The plane’s electricity was eventually shut off, leaving passengers with no air conditioning, and passenger requests to deplane were refused by the airline’s staff. The flight eventually took off for Montreal, landing there nearly 15 hours after passengers boarded in Brussels.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Air Transat said “We sincerely regret the inconveniences for our passengers caused by this situation that was beyond our control.”

The Canadian government’s airline regulator, Transport Canada, recently introduced legislation that would provide “clear standards” for how passengers are treated in situations like this one, and will be discussed in Canada’s Parliament this fall when it resumes its legislative business.