RICHMOND HILL — Leon Seerran was supposed to be home in Guyana Wednesday. Instead, he was standing on Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill, looking for answers.
Seerran was one of the many stranded customers waiting outside the New York offices of EZJet Air Service, an air charter service that operates between New York and the Caribbean using space on other airlines.
The company canceled all flights to and from Guyana last week, leaving customers stuck.
"I tried contacting the office via email and they told me they're going to offer a refund, only a refund, so we're stuck here," said Seerran, 29. "It does't get us back home."
The sudden blackout came on Nov. 8, the same day the United States Department of Transportation revoked EZJet's ability to transport passengers.
"We notified EZJet last week that it no longer had charter authority from DOT because it did not have a direct air carrier to provide its flights," DOT spokesperson Bill Mosely confirmed to DNAinfo.com New York via email on Tuesday.
EZJet, which could not be reached for comment and whose office on Liberty Avenue and 131st Street appears to have been hastily vacated, posted a letter on its website and an announcement on its Facebook page Nov. 9 blaming its airline partners, the Phoenix-based airline SwiftAir LLC and the Virginia-based Dynamic Airways.
"EZJet Air Services has temporarily suspended its operations due to financial hardship created by its vendors and agents owing EZJet as well as some mismanagement," the notice said.
Calls to Swift Air were not returned. A woman who answered the phone at Dynamic Airways declined to comment.
Seerran said EZJet promised to refund his $400 ticket, but "they didn't say" when to expect the cash.
"They said I need to contact the office in Guyana," Seerran said.
The NYC office door bore a sign Tuesday telling customers to expect a refund.
Two men inside the building said that they weren't affiliated with the charter.
"The people you're looking for are already gone," one man told DNAinfo.com New York Tuesday. "We're here because the landlord said the space was available."
EZJet's customers have taken their frustration to the company's Facebook page.
"My mom is in Guyana and she has to travel back to N.Y. on Wednesday. Can someone please tell me what she can do," one user said.
"I need to know, what is going on? This is really madness," wrote another.
