Nearly 300 passengers aboard two Delta Air Lines flights were left stranded on the tarmac overnight after their planes were diverted to an Alabama airport that lacked customs facilities.
On Thursday, April 10, Delta Flight 1828 from Cabo San Lucas and Flight 599 from Mexico City were both en route to Atlanta when severe weather caused both flights to divert. The planes landed at Montgomery Regional Airport at around 10:30 p.m., according to local news outlet AL.com.
However, Montgomery Regional does not have U.S. Customs and Border Protection services, meaning it was unable to process passengers arriving from international destinations. As a result, passengers were forced to remain on the planes for more than six hours.
“I guess the law is that if there’s no customs at the airport, you are literally stuck on that airplane,” said Lauren Forbes, a Boston-bound passenger on one of the flights, in an interview with WCVB.
Delta issued a statement apologizing for the inconvenience. “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,” said a spokesperson. They added that all affected passengers would receive full refunds.
After being kept onboard overnight, passengers were allowed to enter the terminal just after 5:00 a.m. on Friday. However, they remained under guard inside the airport due to regulations regarding international arrivals.
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, located about 100 miles away, has customs facilities, but severe storms made it impossible for the planes to land there.
Montgomery Regional Airport resumed normal operations at 4:00 a.m. on Friday.
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