BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Among the thousands impacted by the Air Canada strike is a Buffalo family who’s stranded in Sicily after their flight was canceled by the airline. They’re now speaking out as they have to wait until late next week before they’re rebooked on a flight home.
For Angela Passalacqua and 12 other members of her family, their dream vacation in Italy and Sicily turned into a nightmare after they received a text message from the airline notifying them that their flights home were canceled due to a labor disruption that was impacting the airline’s operations.
The family was set to fly back on Aug. 16 and were fighting for days to get ahold of the airline. Finally, on Sunday evening, they were able to be rebooked on a flight home — but not until next Thursday and Friday.
Several members of the family have already had no choice but to go out of pocket to pay for a flight back with another airline with no idea if they’ll be reimbursed.
“My son and his girlfriend had to go back because they had a family emergency where they needed to be back,” Angela said. “My daughter, she’s left with no option because she is a nurse.”
Angela’s daughter, Sabrina Passalacqua, works as a nurse at Oishei Children’s Hospital. She said that she had no choice but to book another flight, costing her upwards of $1,700.
“I do need to get back to work,” Sabrina said. “I don’t have the vacation time to just be here in Italy still. I actually did book myself a flight to get home tomorrow out of pocket. It was about $1,700.”
Such was the case for Rose Randazzo, another relative, whose husband had to spend the same amount to fly back home with a different airline.
“My husband and I own a business, so now my husband left yesterday out of pocket also, same amount of money,” Rose said. “Now, we’re all here staying, so we have to rent for longer.”
“My mother-in-law, for example, she’s a day away from running out of her medication. And when you’re 80, you need your meds,” Angela said. “I’ve got kids that go to university, school starts next week at UB.”
Roughly 130,000 travelers worldwide are being affected by the ongoing strike with Air Canada. WIVB News 4 has reached out to Air Canada and we are awaiting a response.
Rob Petree is an anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in 2025. See more of his work by clicking here.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
