We all remember the headlines from last summer: “Canadian airport chaos,” “A sea of lost bags,” and “Toronto Pearson ranked worst airport in world.” I did a series of CBC radio interviews last Friday to talk about whether we’ll see a repeat of the 2022 Summer of Travel Chaos. Here’s what I had to say. What do thing look like for the summer of 2023? There appears to be tons of demand. Air Canada last Friday reported operating revenues for the first quarter of this year were nearly double 2022 numbers. A Mastercard report issued last Thursday found that leisure Read more
travel chaos
Experts are warning Canadians that travel is about to get very busy again. And they say we need to be prepared. “Yes, I am getting many requests for bookings,” Toronto-based travel advisor Amy Urquhart of Pure Magic Vacations told me. “People are still looking to book getaways for March Break and into later spring and summer. The demand is overwhelming at times.” “As far as bookings go, I am well above where I was in the same time period of 2019 pre-pandemic,” said Canadian travel agent Brenda Slater, an Ontario agent and Travel Concierge with Beyond The Beach. “The Read more
The Christmas holiday season is proving to be the opposite of merry and bright for many Canadians. Major cancellations continued at airports and on train lines in eastern Canada on Christmas Day, when most Canadians hope to spend time with family and friends. All VIA Rail trains between Toronto and Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa are cancelled today, VIA Rail stated. It was much better than Saturday, but Christmas Day Sunday still saw more than 130 outgoing and incoming flights at Toronto Pearson, which means travel plans were disrupted or entirely cancelled for thousands and thousands of people. FlightAware reported Read more
Things don’t seem to be improving a whole lot at Toronto Pearson. With the summer travel season winding down and kids heading back to school, it seems Canadians are still flying a great deal. And still getting delayed. Using stats from flightaware.com, I tracked outbound delays at Toronto Pearson for five consecutive days, August 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. I found cancellations are quite low, which is good news. But delays remain stubbornly high. Here’s what I found for OUTBOUND flights, courtesy of Flight Aware. August 24: 12 cancelled (1%). 168 delayed (27%) August 25: 7 cancelled (1%), 223 Read more
The flood of delayed and cancelled flights and lost luggage that has marred the resumption of air travel will continue to recede through the rest of the year as hiring and training programs gear up, says Amos Kazzaz, Air Canada’s chief financial officer. In a story in today’s Globe and Mail, Kazzaz said airport disruptions in Canada are improving and are unlikely to extend into the new year, pointing to the reduced numbers of delays, cancellations and baggage complaints in the second week of August. The website flightaware.com reports that only one per cent of Air Canada flights were cancelled Read more
