DirectAir flight cancellations spur talks of bankruptcy

[webworm]

Looks like DirectAir may have gone bankrupt because all flights from Niagara Falls were cancelled today. Folks who flew down with them for March break may have to make alternate arrangements to get back home.
http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/south...ht-cancellations-spur-bankruptcy-speculation/

 

[C&B Young]

Yikes! Guess those $79 fares were too good to be true after all.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I finally convinced my boss to fly to Myrtle Beach this year (he's in his 70's and usually drives), and I booked his tickets via DirectAir when they released their $79 fare sale. He was supposed to leave on March 26th.

What happens to anyone who has booked and paid for tickets that will never be honoured? (assuming the bankruptcy rumour turns out to be true) Will they receive their money back? Thankfully, I have never encountered such a situation before.

 

[My 2 princesses]

Just when I was thinking of using them. It's bad enough that SWA is way more expensive now than a few years ago, and with this, I don't know.

 

[kirs10a]

I'm booked out of Springfield in June......eeeeeeek. I'm extremely worried & nervous right now. Our family and SIL's family--9 total.

 

[Alderbrook]

We flew with them 4 years ago to Myrtle Beach out of Niagara Falls & the whole thing was so sketchy & they had terrible customer relations that I said we would never fly with them again no matter what their prices were. I've posted before my experience with them & it doesn't surprise me they would strand their passengers, especially on March Break. I feel bad for those that are stuck there. Not sure how easy it will be to get a flight home if this is true.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120313/BUSINESS/303130031

 

[pigletto]

I'm already posting about this in the transportation forum but I'll add here too. I had several friends and neighbours using this route and they were thrilled with it. So .. I booked not one but TWO sets of flights with them (April and August).
I was feeling good about it with all the flights they were adding and knowing so many people with positive experiences.

Not much I can do now. Who I feel badly for is the people who are stuck right this minute with no way to their trip or no way home.
I can not imagine the look on my kids faces if we got to the airport and had to turn around and go home.

Plan B it is. Going to drive I guess. It won't kill us.

Hugs for all of you who are scrambling at the last minute right now.

 

[webworm]

Looks like still no comment from the company.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/niagara-falls/article760283.ece

 

[Alderbrook]

they were just talking about it on my local news station (CHCH in Hamilton). Apparently they are going to make a statement this morning sometime, but with our experience with them, I would be surprised if they follow thru with it.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

Yikes! I was just talking to my parents on the weekend about DirectAir and them possibly booking flights to go see friends in Florida. Such a shame for people who've already booked. Sorry to hear about this bad news...

 

[pigletto]

Buffalo news just stated that a SC newspaper is reporting that according to Direct Air's marketing manager, they missed a fuel payment and the company that provides them fuel pulled their permit. Apparently flights will resume tomorrow.
No official statement yet though.
And to be honest, I'd rather a bankruptcy and hope for a refund at this point because I have zero confidence flying with a company that can't pay for it's fuel.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

And to be honest, I'd rather a bankruptcy and hope for a refund at this point because I have zero confidence flying with a company that can't pay for it's fuel.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[wee-haggis]

Buffalo news just stated that a SC newspaper is reporting that according to Direct Air's marketing manager, they missed a fuel payment and the company that provides them fuel pulled their permit. Apparently flights will resume tomorrow.
No official statement yet though.
And to be honest, I'd rather a bankruptcy and hope for a refund at this point because I have zero confidence flying with a company that can't pay for it's fuel.

mmmm......i find it very suspicious when they say "missed a fuel payment"
i would think that the fuel supplier would give at least one (if not more) warnings as to the pending fuel payments being due ?....If this is the case then , they knew about it in advance but realized they had no meney to pay.
That doesn't sound encouraging

 

[pigletto]

mmmm......i find it very suspicious when they say "missed a fuel payment"
i would think that the fuel supplier would give at least one (if not more) warnings as to the pending fuel payments being due ?....If this is the case then , they knew about it in advance but realized they had no meney to pay.
That doesn't sound encouraging

Totally agree with you.
Missing a fuel payment doesn't fall into the "Ooops" category. It speaks of a larger problem.
I am preparing to drive. I will sit down with my husband tonight and work out all our options.
The biggest question if they do resume service will be whether we take the risk and fly with them, or just drive and lose the money. I don't want to spend the next 6 weeks checking the news every day and wondering what we're doing.
Keeping our plans with them means money for a hotel stay in Lakeland and a car rental when we get there. That would be more money lost that I could recoup now if they had in fact announced a bankruptcy.

Let my case be a lesson to anyone wondering out there. We'll be fine and still take our trips. But I don't want to see any of you worry or have to cancel. So if your on the fence about booking with them, I strongly advise you to not do it.

 

[Alderbrook]

The biggest problem with DirectAir is that when something goes wrong, they don't tell anyone. This is what we ran into. They shut down all lines of communication & you are stuck going to the airport to find out what is going on. They did this to us 4 years ago. After 10 hours of trying to reach someone just to get a busy signal or be told to call back later by a voicemail message, we had to drive to Niagara Falls to figure out what was going on with our flight (there was a hurricane going thru the day of our flight but was supposed to be finished by the time of our flight). I even called the Myrtle Beach airport to see if someone there could help us. The flight ended up being delayed, but we had to actually drive there to find this out. The trip home it happened again (I won't go in to it).

If you chose to fly with them, expect no communication from them at all & if you run into problems, expect busy signals & no customer service to explain what is going on. You get what you pay for in our experience. They are famous for this. Do some research & you will see what others have run into over the years.

 

[Foladar]

Really hope they figure it out, I had a flight out this Friday..

 

[Foladar]

Direct Air finds it necessary to suspend flight operation from Tuesday, March 13, 2012 until May 15, 2012. This decision was made to address operational matters. We are currently evaluating strategic alternatives for Direct Air.


And stranded. Awesome.

 

[encinc]

Yup. Definitely not looking good for March Breakers coming home. This is quoted directly from the site:

"Direct Air finds it necessary to suspend flight operation from Tuesday, March 13, 2012 until May 15, 2012. This decision was made to address operational matters. We are currently evaluating strategic alternatives for Direct Air.

Direct Air is committed to our passengers, employees, and the communities we serve.

Passengers holding reservations for Direct Air flights departing between Tuesday, March 13, 2012 and Tuesday, May 15, 2012 are directed to contact their credit card company to arrange for a refund."

I hope they manage to get things sorted out, but I can't imagine many people trusting them in the future. Too bad. Competition is good for prices, but I guess their prices were too good to be true. I know that several regular posters here are booked with them. I hope they are able to get home without too much expense or hassle. What awful timing for Canadians!

 

[pigletto]

Just got off the phone with my credit card company. I have to write a cover letter, then fax in all of my receipts and itenary, as well as a screen shot of the DirectAir website statement to start a refund.
This is going to take time, and I don't expect to see the refund(s) anytime soon.

I'll need to do it all again for the August flights I just booked last week when they finally do go belly up.

 

[Alderbrook]

Just got off the phone with my credit card company. I have to write a cover letter, then fax in all of my receipts and itenary, as well as a screen shot of the DirectAir website statement to start a refund.
This is going to take time, and I don't expect to see the refund(s) anytime soon.

I'll need to do it all again for the August flights I just booked last week when they finally do go belly up.

I find it appauling that they are relying on the customers having to apply to their credit card companies to issue the refunds. It's not the credit card companies fault. They should be issuing the refunds, but they probably don't have the money. I'm gonna guess there won't be any flights in May either.