Hundreds of travellers booked to fly to Samoa to spend Christmas were stranded after South Pacific Express Inc or SPEX suspended flights on Friday.
Airline sources say a co pilot punched a mechanic which led to the aircraft's owners, Guam based Freedom Air firing the co pilot, and recalling the chief pilot and mechanic.
This resulted in the grounding of all SPEX flights between Pago Pago and Apia, affecting close to 500 passengers.
The airline has been trying to put affected travelers on Inter Island Air and Polynesian but the two airlines are backlogged with their own passengers and cargo.
There's been no word on when SPEX will resume flights.
