Passengers Stranded On Runway Speak Out
By Walt Hunter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Cristy Conolly says when she boarded Frontier Airlines Flight 1017 Monday night for a flight to Tampa, along with her six-year-old daughter Laila who was ill, she had no idea what was ahead.
After more than three hours, stranded on the runway inside the plane, Conolly and scores of other passengers were told to return to the terminal, the flight was cancelled.
The passengers told CBS 3's Walt Hunter, the plane, which initially had to wait to be de-iced, then developed mechanical problems, which meant the ventilation system didn't work properly. They say it was hot, stuffy and uncomfortable as they awaited word on what was ahead.
Once back in the terminal, passengers say it appeared workers didn't realize they had been in the plane for more than three hours.
Some passengers simply spent the night at the airport, others, given vouchers for hotels, went there, only to discover the hotels were fully booked.
Conolly says she spend the night in a hotel lobby, her daughter, wrapped in a blanket on the floor.
A Frontier Airlines spokesperson told CBS 3,"We apologize for this inconvenience and we want to make this right. We are calling all the passengers that were on the flight. We built an extra section, like a charter flight, to make sure they got to their destination."
The Frontier spokesperson pointed out the airline has improved it's on time performance in recent months, the airline routinely in the top 3 for the lowest number of cancelled flights.
