Executives of the airline claim that Sun Country is still recovering from the effects of its contract with the ground handler at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International airport, which spanned May to September last year.
In a lawsuit filed on March 25, 2019, Sun Country alleges that Global Aviation committed fraud by lying about its capabilities before it was contracted to run the airline's ground operations at MSP and also claims that it breached the terms of the contract by failing to perform the necessary work to handle flights, passengers and cargo a timely manner. An increase in customer complaints to the Better Business Bureau and US Transportation Department about Sun Country coincided with the contract.
The lawsuit states: “Global's breaches and incompetence harmed Sun Country's brand and reputation with its customers. Global increased customer wait time at ticket counters and gates, further inconvenienced customers by causing flight delays and lost and damaged customers' bags.”
Global suffered with staffing shortages for the duration of the contract, resolving to terminate its agreement with the airline on June 28, 2018, giving the required three-month notice period for Sun Country to find a new provider. It is reported that during this time, staff from the airline's headquarters took shifts filling jobs that Global could not. The contract officially ended on Sept 28, 2018.
DGS was subsequently given the contract to take over Sun Country’s ground operations at MSP; however, despite some improvements, the airline reportedly continues to get a higher-than-usual volume of customer complaints, and staff from the carrier's headquarters are allegedly still taking shifts at the airport to alleviate operational pressures.
Interesting to note is that Global was said to have been contracted as part of a cost-cutting programme by Sun Country's new leadership, following its change of ownership in 2017. Before 2018, Swissport managed Sun Country’s ramp services and baggage handling, while the airline insourced its passenger services, including ticketing and boarding. The airline’s new executives decided to outsource the work of about 350 people in February 2018, selecting Global to take over its ground handling requirements in May, from more than a dozen companies that bid for the tender. Global already handled for the carrier at some airports in Florida but this was to be the handler's biggest contract.
When asked to provide a comment on the allegations, Global Aviation Services’ CEO, Carm Borg, said: “It is disappointing that Sun Country Airlines has decided to litigate a complicated contractual dispute in the press. Global Aviation is confident in its position that it properly fulfilled the terms of the contract with Sun Country Airlines and that it also properly terminated the agreement upon the required 90-day notice. We are confident in our legal position and look forward to successfully defending, in court, the claims raised in this lawsuit.”
