Bride Misses Her Own Destination Wedding After Airline Cancels Flight

A bride missed her own wedding and lost more than $70,000 (Rs 57 lakh) in reservations after Southwest Airlines cancelled her flight. On December 27, Katie Demko was scheduled to depart from St. Louis, Missouri and her destination wedding to her fiance Michael, in Belize. However, the airline's pilot revealed that the flight had been cancelled just as passengers were about to board, as per a report in the Insider. 

Although the bride claims that she is a frequent flier of Southwest Airlines, she was not able to find another flight for herself and her kids to make it in time for the Belize wedding. "I had about seven travel agents, and my whole family sat for 18 hours searching for a way to get us there. We even looked at flying to Cancun and getting a bus to drive us to Belize. There was nothing," she added. 

According to the outlet, her fiance arrived in Belize before her. However, her flight was short of three flight attendants and the captain made the decision to cancel it just before boarding was scheduled to begin.

Additionally, she attempted to exchange tickets with friends who were departing on December 28, but Southwest Airlines was unable to do so. "I cried all morning on December 30," Ms Demko told Insider.

Despite not receiving a complete refund, Southwest reimbursed Ms Demko for her tickets. She was also not able to receive a refund for a lot of her wedding services. The Victoria House resort, where she and her guests were scheduled to stay, did not offer refunds or postponements. So Ms Demko and her fiance lost thousands as a result of the cancellation.

"In total, it is well over $70K lost in rooms at Victoria House," she told Insider.

Talking to People Magazine, Ms Demko said that she was devastated when she learnt about the same. She said, "Please let this not be true. This can't be happening. Total devastation." 

She continued, "I was in shock and just went numb."