The Trudeau government says it’s continuing to work at easing crowding and other problems at Canadian airports, and that senior officials met with Toronto Pearson Airport management this week. It doesn’t appear to be helping, as cancellations and delays remain about what they were a week ago. FlightAware.com reports 33 flights were cancelled at Pearson on Wednesday, roughly 5% of all flights. Another 242 departing flights were delayed, about 40%. It wasn’t a lot better at Montreal Trudeau, where seven flights (2%) were cancelled and 123 flights (39%) were delayed. Here’s a statement they issued today: The Minister of Transport, Read more
Omar Alghabra
Ottawa says it has hired some 1,200 security workers to deal with ongoing congestion problems at Canadian airports. The federal government on Wednesday July 6 issued the following statement: “On Monday, July 4, Minister Alghabra met with the CEO of Air Canada to discuss current and planned actions being taken by the airline to quickly bring on more employees and to bolster core operations to better respond to the challenges of rapidly increasing demands. This meeting followed similar meetings that Minister Alghabra had with the CEOs of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and WestJet last week. Transport Canada is Read more
Ottawa says it’s making progress on Canadian airport congestion and passport backlogs in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. This week, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra met once again with the CEOs of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and WestJet. They discussed current and planned actions being taken by industry to quickly bring on more employees and to bolster core operations to better respond to the challenges of rapidly increasing demands as the number of Canadians travelling by air continues to grow. Minister Alghabra will also meet next week with the CEO of Air Canada. The Government of Canada and air industry partners Read more
Canada’s largest airline says it anticipated this year’s travel surge and has responded with solid action. Air Canada and other major players in the Canadian aviation industry met today with Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra to talk about, among other things, recent airport crowding problems at Toronto Pearson and other airports. Following the meeting, Air Canada issued a statement saying it understands the issues at hand. “At Air Canada, we know every trip is important, even more so today as many are flying for the first time in years to see loved ones or take an eagerly anticipated holiday. We Read more
The government of Canada says it’s bringing in new rules to protect passengers from cancelled or delayed flights. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said that, as the Canadian aviation industry continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and more and more Canadians are choosing to travel by air, it’s especially important that travellers are treated with fairness and respect. “I am pleased to see that the Canadian Transportation Agency’s new Regulations Amending the Air Passenger Protection Regulations are now finalized,” he said in a statement issued today by the Trudeau government. “These regulations require that refunds be provided for cancelled flights or Read more
