On April 10, passengers on two separate flights from Mexico were diverted to Montgomery, Alabama, and then stuck in the planes overnight.
The incident involved passengers on Flight 599 from Mexico City and Flight 1828 from Cabo San Lucas. The flyers were headed to Atlanta but diverted to Montgomery Regional Airport due to inclement weather concerns, including thunderstorms and lightning. However, the Montgomery airport didn’t have an on-site Customs and Border Protection team to process the arrivals. Therefore, since the international travelers couldn’t deplane, all the passengers — around 300 total — had to remain in the planes on the tarmac. According to PEOPLE, the travelers were stuck in the aircraft from around 10:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day.
Has Delta Air Lines Addressed The Incident?
USA Today detailed that both flights eventually reached Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The source noted that the carrier said the aircraft doors were open throughout the tarmac stationing. The passengers who were kept overnight were provided with food, drinks, temperature control, and restroom access.
Alabama’s Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport would have been able to process the flyers through customs. However, a diversion to that airport — around 100 miles from the Montgomery one — was reportedly not feasible due to the bad weather.
Flight crew duty time limitations at the Montgomery airport reportedly factored into the length of the diversion.
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for this experience. We fell short of how we aspire to serve and care for our customers amid thunderstorms in the Southeast U.S. Thursday evening,” a Delta Air Lines spokesperson reportedly stated. “We are reaching out to each customer with a full refund of their booking.”
“The challenges Delta Air Lines flight operations faced included weather-related issues and crew members nearing federally mandated flight time limits,” Montgomery Regional Airport said in a press release. “Despite these obstacles, [airport] staff went above and beyond to make the unexpected stay as comfortable as possible for roughly 300 passengers. Once passengers were safely deplaned and inside the terminal, [airport] staff worked diligently to provide comfort and care — distributing snacks, bottled water, and breakfast.”
