Toronto Pearson continues to experience some of the highest rates of delayed flights around the world, and the critics are pouncing. But we’re also seeing problems at the Toronto City Centre/Island Airport and at Montreal Trudeau. The airline tracking website Flight Aware sparked a worldwide condemnation of Canada’s busiest airport when it reported that Pearson’s delay rate for the period from May 26 to July 9 was 52.5%. That was the highest in the world, and Pearson was the only airport on the planet with a cancellation rate higher than 50%. Things started to get better, but progress seems to Read more
Trudeau
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 Read more
An influential international airline travel group has again called on the Canadian government to urgently discontinue its COVID-19 related travel restrictions. “These are now out of step with the global trend of lifting travel restrictions and are partly responsible for the ongoing delays and disruption affecting air travelers across Canada,” the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a statement. “Canada has become a total outlier in managing COVID-19 and travel,” said Peter Cerda, IATA’s Regional Vice President for the Americas. “Though governments across the globe are rolling back restrictions, the Government of Canada is reinstating them.” IATA says the Read more
WestJet’s acquisition of Sunwing may have a “deep and negative effect on Canadian jobs,” a powerful Canadian union argues. Unifor, which represents some 16,000 airline workers across the country, late last week filed s public interest submission with the Canadian government, arguing that Transport Canada and the Competition Bureau must consider that a Sunwing-WestJet merger could lead to lower wages and lost jobs. “Unifor is concerned that, despite the promises made to create jobs, this acquisition will actually lead to more sub-contracted work with lower wages and precarious conditions,” said Scott Doherty, Executive Assistant to Unifor’s National President. “Not only Read more
Mandatory random testing of fully vaccinated travellers arriving at some Canadian airports will resume today. Ottawa paused mandatory random testing for those entering Canada by air on June 11, 2022, as part of a broader strategy to transition testing for air travellers outside of the airports. But mandatory random tests resume Tuesday, July 19, 2022 for travellers who qualify as fully vaccinated. The rules apply to those arriving in Canada by air to the four major Canadian airports—Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. Health officials say air travellers who qualify as fully vaccinated and who are selected for mandatory random testing, Read more
