I was at Toronto Pearson today at 9:30 a.m., and it was like another world. Hardly any cars at the departures level, only a few people in line for the Air Canada U.S. ticket window, and maybe 15-20 people that I could see in line for security.
Which made me wonder? Was I just there at the right time, or are things improving at Canada’s busiest – and most vilified – airport?
“We’re starting to see improvements on average wait times, both with departures and arrivals, but there’s more work to be done to provide reliability and consistency for our valued passengers, especially during peak periods throughout the day and on different days of the week,” Toronto Pearson/GTAA spokesperson Tori Gass said in an email.
“On the whole, wait times for CATSA screening have been improving with the addition of more screening staff on the ground at Pearson, but wait times for processing to enter the US remain too long as we continue to have fewer US resources and shorter operating hours for preclearance than pre-pandemic, Moreover, the Canadian NEXUS enrollment centres have yet to reopen to address the 300,000+ backlog of applicants.
“For international arrivals, plane holds upon arrival dropped from an average of 33 minutes in April to just over 16 minutes in the last week of June and this number has continued to improve over the last few weeks. The addition of new kiosks and eGates in the Customs Halls is leading to a better arrivals process for international passengers. These eGates can reduce the time it takes to process each passenger by almost half if travellers used the Advance Declaration feature in ArriveCAN.
“Mandatory Random Testing has also been moved off-airport, and Customs Officers now no longer need to manually select travellers for testing, helping move passengers more smoothly through arrivals,” Gass said.
Pearson also has introduced a Wait Times dashboard to give passengers an idea of what times are busiest at the airport, which can be found on their website: https://www.torontopearson.com/en/status.
“The dashboard provides information on wait times for the two terminals and for domestic, transborder and international flights,” Gass added. “We also continue to promote our recent infographics as a resource that puts crucial information in the hands of passengers before they fly. You can view them here and here.”
According to the website Flight Aware, 22 flights were cancelled at Toronto Pearson on Tuesday (3%), while 223 were delayed (38%). That’s a lot better than the 52.5% delay figure for late May to early July, but obviously still very high. For Wednesday, July 27, Flight Aware reported 20 cancellations (3%) and 237 delays (39%); slightly above the Tuesday rate.
As of 5 p.m. ET today (Thursday, July 28) there were 27 cancellations (4% of flights) and 138 delays (23%).
Terminal One at Toronto Pearson airport at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on July 27, 2020. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Montreal Trudeau today was showing a one per cent cancellation rate, and a 13% delay rate as of 4:30 p.m., while London Heathrow was showing a delay rate of 27%.
The government of Canada put out a statement late this afternoon as well, saying Transport Minister Omar Alghabra continues to meet with senior leadership at airports and airlines of all sizes across the country to ensure ongoing collaboration that will help reduce delays and keep travellers moving.
Transport Canada continues to meet regularly with airports and airlines alongside the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and NAV CANADA to find solutions to address bottlenecks affecting travel.
Increasing staffing for security screening and customs processing
Since April, more than 1,600 CATSA screening officers have been hired across Canada. The number of screening officers at Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport are now over 100 percent of summer target levels. Efforts to increase screening officer staff levels at all airports continue.
CBSA is making more border services officers available at the most congested airports, has temporarily re-hired retired officers and has hired additional student border services officers.
Streamlining customs processing at Toronto Pearson International Airport
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority and the CBSA are adding 10 new eGates and 30 more primary inspection kiosks at Toronto Pearson International Airport by the end of this week. CBSA continues to monitor and prepare for peak arrival times to maximize efficiencies.
Improving ArriveCAN
Travellers arriving at Toronto Pearson International Airport or Vancouver International Airport, and later this month at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport, can save time by using the Advance CBSA Declaration optional feature in ArriveCAN to submit their customs and immigration declaration in advance of arrival. This feature will also be expanded to other international airports in the coming months.
Information resource for passengers experiencing flight delays, cancellations and lost or delayed baggage
The Canadian Transportation Agency developed an information resource to help passengers who are experiencing issues during their travel. This guide provides answers to many frequently asked travel questions and advises passengers of their rights under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations should their flights be delayed or cancelled, or in the event their baggage is lost, damaged or delayed.
