More than half of domestic flights to large airports delayed, cancelled

The airports are Montreal, Calgary, Toronto’s Pearson and Billy Bishop airports, Ottawa and Halifax

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MONTREAL — A majority of domestic flights to some of Canada’s busiest airports were delayed or cancelled over the past week, an analytics firm says.

Data Wazo said Wednesday 54 per cent of flights to six large airports were bumped off schedule in the seven days between June 22 and 28.

Some 38 per cent of the flights were delayed while 16 per cent were scrapped altogether.

The airports are Montreal, Calgary, Toronto’s Pearson and Billy Bishop airports, Ottawa and Halifax.

Airlines and the federal government have been scrambling to respond to scenes of endless lines, flight disruptions, lost luggage and daily turmoil at airports — particularly at Pearson — a problem the aviation industry has blamed on a shortage of federal security and customs officers.

Canada’s airport security agency has hired more than 900 screeners since April, though many remain in training. Ottawa has also suspended randomized COVID-19 testing of vaccinated passengers through at least Thursday, following sector demands to process international travellers more quickly.

Ray Harris, who heads the Fredericton-based data company, said the flight statistics are based on arrivals page snapshots taken at various points throughout the day.

Passengers say they receive last-minute emails informing them of repeated delays, aircraft changes or rebookings scheduled days after the original departure time. Reasons cited run the gamut from absent pilots and occupied baggage handlers to unplanned mechanical maintenance.

Kinks in one part of the air travel pipeline can snarl others, with overflowing customs areas stopping flight crews from disembarking, for example, or a lack of airline customer service agents exacerbating delays.

Flights held on the tarmac because of bulging customs halls can leave crew out of “duty time” — the regulatory and contractual limits on hours worked — prompting personnel gaps. Meanwhile a flight missed due to a long security queue or delayed connecting flight may take hours to rebook, since agents slated to cover the customer service counter are still working to board passengers on a different delayed plane. Similar snags confront baggage handlers.

John Gradek, head of McGill University’s aviation management program, says carriers have used Ottawa as a “scapegoat” while scheduling more flights than they have staff or planes to provide, resulting in delays and cancellations.

“The airlines have lost some of their mojo,” he said. “The government has reacted and has pumped up the resources, and we’ve still got chaos.”

But long security lines also continue to plague airports amid an ongoing shortage of staff, from screeners to air traffic controllers.

“There’s not enough of them. And if you get sick, then they get sick too,” said Helane Becker, an aviation analyst for financial-services firm Cowen.

Air Canada has said it continues to hire, with 32,000 employees now on its payroll — nearing 2019 staffing levels — and its schedule operating at just 80 per cent of 2019 volumes, said spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2022.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press