Passengers try in vain to get Itapemirim rebooked at an airport

Athlete Pedro Lucas, 22, woke up before 4 am in hopes of saving his vacation trip. He is a golf player, a sport practiced by the visually impaired, and had purchased a ticket from ITA (Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos) to Natal, where he intended to spend a month with his wife’s family.

With the suspension of operations announced by the company last Friday (17), Pedro and his wife were left without a flight or vacation. The idea of ​​arriving early at Cumbica airport, in Guarulhos (SP), to try to re-accommodate, didn’t work either.

“Now we’re only going to be able to travel next year. We’ve lost the opportunity,” he says.

Pedro is one of the 45,887 passengers who had services contracted by Itapemirim between December 17th and 31st. According to the company, more than 25 thousand have had requests for re-accommodation or reimbursement fulfilled.

“In the first two business days after the temporary suspension of its operations, R$7.8 million in reimbursement requests with credit card operators have already been processed,” said Itapemirim in a note.

According to the company, the amounts will be refunded directly on the credit card statement within a period of up to 30 days.

Itapemirim advises passengers not to check in online or go to airports before contacting the company. In addition, the company made available a chat on its website and a telephone number (0800 723 2121) to serve affected customers, operating between 6 am and 9 pm.

Pedro says that he learned about the suspension of flights on the news, and that he sought out the travel agency where he bought his ticket to understand what had happened. “Even they got lost, because it was [algo] suddenly.”

Without a new flight, Pedro asked the agency to request a refund, which must happen within 60 days. ​ITA is prioritizing those customers who are returning to their homes for re-accommodation with other airlines

However, passengers in this situation report difficulties in returning home. This is the case of Fernanda, 53, who asked to have her name hidden in the report.

She says that she lives in Recife and arrived in São Paulo on December 10th to go shopping. Her return ticket was scheduled for 4:30 pm this Tuesday (21st), but, in addition to not getting another flight, Fernanda says that the option given by Itapemirim is to return by bus on the 25th of the month to arrive on the 28th.

“How am I going to stay until the 25th here at the airport?”, he asks. “I don’t have anyone in São Paulo to spend Christmas and stay at that person’s house. I’m in the same situation with a group here,” he adds.

According to her, the company paid for food aid, but did not offer help with accommodation. “We’ll sleep here [no aeroporto], because there’s nowhere to stay,” he says.

Fernanda claims that she traveled to São Paulo to shop and that now she doesn’t know how to negotiate the products. “My goods were shipped to the carrier and I didn’t go. Even at the expense of clothes, I’ll stay, because how will I sell at Christmas?”, he asks.

Mônica Modestino de Lima, 41, says she bought a ticket for her mother-in-law, Lindalva Maria de Lima, to go to Recife to take care of her sick mother.

Since they found out that Itapemirim had suspended its operations, they have been trying to find a solution on the part of the company, but they still haven’t succeeded.

“Yesterday (20) I managed to speak directly with the company. They advised me to come here [no aeroporto de Cumbica], to get some guidance, or go to the [terminal rodoviário do] Tietê to see what they could do”, says Mônica.

According to her, the reimbursement that the company offers is not worth it, because a new ticket is already much more expensive at this time of year.

She says that she arrived at the airport at 10 am and until the beginning of the afternoon she had not received any support from the company for food.

“I talked to the airport staff and they wanted to see what to do. If they were going to send her [a sogra] by plane or by bus. We are here waiting for a contact from Itapemirim,” he says.

The difficulty in receiving information is also reported by Rita de Cássia Rocha, 52 years old. She had a trip scheduled to Fortaleza to visit her father, who is 92 years old and has some health problems.

“The trip was supposed to take place yesterday (20), they have already transferred it to today and we are here,” he says. “They don’t make any contact,” he adds.

Rita says she found out in the newspaper about the cancellation of Itapemirim tickets and that the problems with the company date back to before.

“We are [tentando entrar em contato com a Itapemirim] it’s been a month since we bought the trip. There was an error in the ticket, we went to call and they didn’t answer”