Watch CBS News

South Jersey High School Students 'Heartbroken' After Spirit Airlines Cancelations Affect Senior Trips

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a spring break travel mess. Airlines are canceling and delaying thousands of flights, sending some senior trip plans into a tailspin.

Spirit Airlines is asking travelers to check their email and flight status before they head to the airport. But some local students were already caught in the cancelations.

"We were really excited. We haven't been able to do much because of COVID," Riley Axelrod said.

Axelrod couldn't wait to go on her West Deptford senior trip until Spirit Airlines canceled her flight the morning of.

About 100 students were expected to head to Florida this past Saturday.

The class was packed and ready to go until they got the unexpected message right before they were supposed to leave the house.

"I was really devastated. I was sitting on the couch waiting to hear another message hoping that we would be able to get to the school and get on the plane, but it never happened," Riley said.

"I was just heartbroken for them. For her and her class," her mom said.

This was just one of the many flights canceled over the weekend around the country. On Monday alone, Philadelphia had 28 flights canceled -- 20 of them are Spirit flights.

Many travelers complained of customer service issues.

"I tried to get through to the airline several times on Saturday and no one was picking up," Riley's mom said.

Spirit Airlines apologized for the inconvenience and added that it is recovering from weather-related challenges throughout Florida.

The airline released a statement, reading in part: "It takes time to get our crews and planes back into place after multiple days of weather and restrictions. We're seeing improved operating conditions and we expect to move towards resuming our normal operations over the next few days."

Other South Jersey senior trips were also affected.

While rescheduling the trip will not be easy, students hope they will get the trip of a lifetime with friends.

"Keep positive thoughts that they can re-plan something and they can go," Riley's mom said.

Riley says her principal is working with the travel agent to reschedule their trip. If not, they plan to get their money back.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.