‘Still not safe’: Calgarian speaks about violence in Puerto Vallarta

A Calgary woman says she is sheltering in place as violence rages in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

An outbreak of violence in Mexico disrupted airline schedules across Canada Sunday.

The federal government is warning Canadians in Jalisco State, including popular tourist destination Puerto Vallarta, that criminal groups have set up road blocks with burning vehicles in the area.

The feds say there have also been shootouts and explosions.

It’s not yet clear if there are any injuries from the violence.

Air Canada, Porter and WestJet have cancelled flights into the Puerto Vallarta airport.

In a statement, WestJet said it has diverted seven flights that were enroute to Puerto Vallarta (PVR) and cancelled 37 flights to and from Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara (GDL) and Manzanillo (ZLO).

A WestJet spokesperson said 11 flights in Calgary have been impacted as a result.

“WestJet’s flexible/change policy has been put into effect for guests travelling to PVR, GDL and ZLO over the next two days. For guests currently in destination, WestJet and Sunwing are arranging extended stays so guests can comply with local official guidelines.

“As conditions evolve, additional cancellations may be required to ensure the safety of everyone in WestJet’s world. We are advising all guests with imminent travel plans to Mexico check the status of their flight before heading to the airport.”

Air Canada statement:

“Due to the security situation in Puerto Vallarta, Air Canada has temporarily suspended operations there today. We have cancelled three flights to and three flights from PVR to and from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, representing just under 500 customers in total each way.

“We are monitoring the situation closely, and are in contact with local Mexico authorities as well as Transport Canada. Customers are advised not to attempt to go to the airport unless their flight which they have a confirmed booking for is shown as operating on aircanada.com. We will contact customers with new flight information as soon as the situation allows it.”

‘Machine guns and everything’

Calgarian Geraldine Vanderveen and her family were getting ready to go to church Sunday morning when she looked out the window and noticed smoke.

She thought it might be grass fires so they got in their car and started driving.

“As we’re driving, we see all these pillars of black smoke around us and then we thought, this does not feel right. Let’s turn around and go back and on the way back, it became evident that this was definitely not okay.”

Vanderveen says late Sunday afternoon there were still some flareups but it appeared things were starting to quiet down.

“The roads are still eerily quiet. We’re seeing a few more cars drive now, few more people walk, but they’ve really told us just to hunker down, stay inside. It’s still not safe.”

They are staying with a friend and are separated from other members of their family.

“Our condo from here is about half a kilometer away, where our son and his wife and our granddaughter are. They are safe as well, but we’d like to be together, but until we know it’s safe to do so, we’re just going to hang out here for a while.”

Vanderveen and her family have been coming to Puerto Vallarta for about 30 years and this is the first time there’s been a problem.

“We also trust and know that it will eventually just calm down.”

“I haven’t felt this urgent need to get out of here. The local people are taking good care of us, making sure that we’re safe. They’re not letting us out here either until they know it’s safe.”

They are supposed to fly home next week, and, for now, they are sticking with that.

“We feel good enough. We have our condo, we have lots of food there, so we don’t need to get out right now . We’ll just kind of wait and see how it all plays out.”

A Winnipeg couple stranded at the airport in Puerto Vallarta described a harrowing scene for travellers.

Tony Mariani and his wife Cathy were set to fly home Sunday after a three‑week stay when they saw smoke near the airport. Inside, their WestJet flight was cancelled, and moments later Mariani says gunfire erupted outside.

“People were scurrying, flying on the ground, trying to find cover,” he said.

Airport staff moved hundreds of people behind check‑in counters and later to the second floor. Mariani said federal officers were stationed outside and the airport was shut down.

“There were machine guns and everything out front.”

Locals told him the violence is retaliation after the Mexican army killed a high‑ranking cartel figure, he added. Mariani described the situation as “real” and frightening.

“When you see kids crying — elderly people crying — it’s real,” he said.

Mariani said all they want now is to get home safely.

The federal government issued a shelter-in-place order for Canadians in Puerto Vallarta due to the violence in the region.

Global Affairs Canada advised Canadians in Jalisco State to keep a “low profile” and follow local authorities’ advice.

WestJet also said that due to a winter storm in the northeast, it has cancelled four flights in the region and activated its flexible change/cancellation policy.

Calgary Airport also posted on social media Sunday that access to Nexus and Global Entry programs for U.S.-bound flights at YYC are closed until further notice.

With files from CTV’s Harrison Shin and The Canadian Press