ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Dozens of passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight from Florida to Rochester experienced a travel nightmare early Monday morning, with some spending more time waiting on the plane and in the airport than the duration of the flight itself.

Michael Lebbon, a passenger on the Spirit flight, shared his experience with News10NBC.

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “How did you feel much earlier this morning?”

Michael Lebbon, a passenger on the Spirit flight: “It was kind of awful.”

Lebbon was returning from a family vacation in Columbia. Their Spirit flight on Sunday was delayed leaving Fort Lauderdale but eventually landed in Rochester at 12:45 a.m. Monday. However, the jetway bridge wouldn’t work, and they needed a truck to push the plane to another gate, leaving passengers stuck on the plane for an hour and a half.

“As the time started to pass we heard the jeers of other customers saying ‘What’s the backup plan?’ ‘Why aren’t we getting off? ‘Why can’t we just use the emergency exits?'” Lebbon recounted.

The problems didn’t end there. It took another 90 minutes for passengers to get their baggage. Lebbon shared photos he took while waiting and says he finally walked out of the airport at 4 a.m.

Berkeley Brean: “So the flight itself was about two and a half hours. But it would be more than three hours that you would be waiting at the Rochester airport?”

Michael Lebbon: “That’s correct.”

“We had asked the stewardess what was happening and why it was taking so long. And they said if we knew the answers we would have given them to you,” Lebbon said. “But we kind of had to fight through this ordeal on our own.”

Spirit Airlines issued a statement apologizing for the inconvenience and explaining the delay was due to issues with the airport jet bridge and baggage system. They provided snacks, water, and a future travel voucher to affected passengers.

Monroe County, which operates the airport, stated they found no system or mechanical failures after testing the jet bridge and baggage conveyors. They are working with Spirit to determine what disconnect occurred in the operation of both functions.

Federal rules state passengers must be allowed to leave a plane if it’s been sitting for three hours, and the airline has to provide food and water no later than two hours.

“The main sticking point for me and my wife was to have a plan,” Lebbon said. “We felt like that, no pun intended, that they were kind of winging it in the moment.”

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