Nearly 300 passengers aboard two international Delta Air Lines flights found themselves stranded on the tarmac overnight after their planes were rerouted to an Alabama airport without customs.
On Thursday, April 10, Delta Flight 1828 from Cabo San Lucas and Flight 599 from Mexico City were en route to Atlanta when severe weather forced both aircraft to divert. Both flights landed at Montgomery Regional Airport close to 10:30 p.m., according to local outlet AL.com.
However, Montgomery’s airport lacks U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities, rendering it incapable of processing travelers arriving from outside the country. As a result, passengers were not allowed to deplane and were confined inside the aircraft for more than six hours that night.
“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 diverted flights, in an interview with WCVB.
A Delta spokesperson told People, “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.” We are reaching out to each customer with a full refund of their booking.”
After being kept onboard for the night, passengers were finally permitted to enter the terminal just after 5:00 a.m. on Friday morning. While they were allowed inside the airport building, they remained under guard, unable to leave due to regulations regarding international arrivals.
Although Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, located just over 100 miles away, is equipped with customs facilities, severe storms made it a non-viable alternative for the diverted flights.
Montgomery Regional Airport’s website indicated that it had resumed normal operations by 4:00 a.m. Friday morning.
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