Hundreds forced to stay the night on planes after Delta flights diverted

Delta Airlines is apologizing to hundreds of passengers for a travel nightmare that left them stuck on their planes overnight on the tarmac

Two planes had taken off from Mexico last Thursday for Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta

flight 1828 from Cabo San Lucas and flight 599 from Mexico City

But due to bad weather, the flights were forced to land at Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama around 1030 p.m. local time

However, since Montgomery is a regional airport, not an international airport, the airport does not have any U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities or agents

The passengers, 297 total, were forced to stay on their planes. A Delta spokesperson said, quote

Flights from international points of origin must arrive at an airport with Customs and Border Protection staffing and facilities for processing

This was not possible until early Friday morning when a special accommodation was reached with Montgomery Airport officials and CBP, end quote

Passengers sat on their planes until about 5.30 the next morning, or roughly seven hours, before they were allowed in the terminal

where they were confined to one gate area as Delta tried to arrange for a flight to Atlanta

Lauren Forbes was on the plane from Cabo along with her boyfriend

She spoke with WCVB in Boston. I was thinking, you know, if somebody has diabetes, what do we do

There's no food here. I'm starving. I don't have diabetes. If somebody does, you know, heaven forbid

Forbes says she and the other passengers waited several hours until about noon

when they finally boarded a plane to Atlanta. Delta says it plans to refund each customer's ticket

The airline's saying it fell short of how it serves and cares for its customers

amid thunderstorms in the southeast U.S. For more unbiased updates, download the Straight Arrow News app