Travellers at Toronto Pearson airport irked by ongoing delays ahead of holidays

Long lines, missing bags and cancelled flights are already spoiling the holiday season for many travellers passing through Toronto Pearson International Airport; that’s without factoring in the upcoming winter storm heading this way.

Toronto Pearson announced that the lead-up to Christmas is expected to be the busiest time to travel, starting this week and the days around Jan. 9, when many children return to school.

A recent video shared on Instagram shows hundreds of frustrated travellers waiting at Pearson’s baggage claim chanting expletives toward the Sunwing airline. One passenger tells CityNews they waited almost three hours for their luggage after landing on Sunday night.

“We’re travelling with 10 people and two babies. I have had a lot of cries in the airport; it’s been awful,” one woman travelling to Kelowna said, noting that she hadn’t received any concise explanation from staff.

“If you talk to someone for five minutes, they’ll tell you it’s maintenance. Another will tell you it’s the weather.”

British Airways had flights cancelled on Tuesday, and Sunwing also confirmed some flights had been cancelled. A spokesperson for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) tells CityNews that the snowstorm across the country in British Columbia is impacting travel considerably.

“It has a trickle-down effect, and unfortunately, we can’t control the weather,” Rachel Bertone of the GTAA said. “We have learned from what has taken place.”

In preparation, Pearson airport has introduced many digital tools, including an online security reservation system, YYZ Express, that lets customers on select flights reserve their security screening spot in advance.

The airport has said this holiday season will be hectic as passenger traffic has steadily increased since the summer, but the number of travellers is still expected to sit below pre-pandemic levels. Pearson expects to see 80 per cent of passengers compared to 2019, based on the number of airline seats sold.

CityNews has reported on extensive delays experienced by travellers at Pearson airport last month. Photos from the airport displayed large crowds congregating inside Pearson’s baggage hall on Nov. 22, with many left wondering where their bags ended up.

Air Canada says the airline is looking to hire more staff, providing CityNews with their current staffing totals on ground operations. A spokesperson said there are just over 3,000 active employees, up 35 per cent from last year. The end-of-year projections have Air Canada at 3,600 employees at ground level, equivalent to 94 per cent of pre-pandemic staffing levels.

Potential winter storm expected to affect travel plans in Toronto

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for Toronto and much of southern Ontario, proposing residents avoid non-essential travel before Christmas.

The weather agency says that warmer temperatures could see rain or wet snow begin to fall late on Thursday before potentially transitioning to rain in Toronto early Friday.

That is when temperatures are expected to drop rather significantly, which Environment Canada says will be accompanied by strong to potentially damaging winds along with snow that may be heavy at times.

A cross-country skier makes their way up a snow-covered road in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. The weather agency says warmer temperatures could see rain begin to fall late on Thursday before potentially transitioning to rain in Toronto early Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang.

Vancouver International Airport was crowded with stranded travellers Tuesday, many sitting or sleeping on floors, as heavy snowfall played havoc on transportation in the region during one of the year’s busiest travel periods.

In B.C., officials with the Ministry of Transportation said as much as 30 cm of snow had covered parts of southern Vancouver Island while Metro Vancouver coped with up to 25 cm.

Toronto resident Adam Abbi said he had been at the airport since Monday afternoon after his flight home was delayed and cancelled.

He said he got through a long and sleepless night thanks to “espresso, two shots.”

“I am still trying to hold on, but I am about to deteriorate at any second.”

With files from The Canadian Press