What was supposed to be a celebration instead was for the birds.
Well, at least one bird, anyway.
Frontier Airlines on Thursday was set to inaugurate its service from Green Bay, Wisc., to Orlando, Fla. That included all the bells and whistles that come with a celebration, even Mickey Mouse ears in this particular instance.
But when the aircraft being used for the flight arrived from Florida, its post-flight inspection ended the party early – it was revealed that a bird had struck the engine on the flight up from Orlando.
While passengers were treated to a buffet breakfast, they learned that the bird strike forced the airline to cancel the flight until the next day.
Adding insult to injury, Thursday was the second coldest November on record in Green Bay while Orlando was holding steady at 75 degrees.
Some 180 passengers were scheduled to fly down to Florida, and not all of them were particularly happy to miss out on a full day in the sun.
One of the passengers, Brittany Forsberg, told NBC News 26 that the delay would cost her money and that it was a disappointment.
“Unfortunately, my friend and I were planning a long weekend for a quick girls trip just Thursday to Sunday,” she said. “Unfortunately, now we’ve lost Thursday and probably about half of (Friday).”
Frontier Airlines, called the situation “uncontrollable circumstances” and offered passengers the option of rebooking for the following day or a full refund of the ticket price.
