House of Commons transport committee holds emergency meeting on airport delays

The House of Commons transport committee is holding an emergency meeting today to talk about whether to go ahead with an investigation into airport delays and flight cancellations.

Airlines and airports have been grappling with a surge in travel this summer, compounded by staffing shortages affecting both carriers and federal agencies.

That’s led to widespread flight cancellations, baggage delays and lengthy lineups, with the Greater Toronto Area’s Pearson International Airport the hardest hit by these issues.

A report from flight tracking website, FlightAware, recently ranked Toronto Pearson as the world’s worst airport for delayed flights.

The data accumulated from May 26 and July 19 suggested the airport saw 52.5 per cent of its flights delayed — the only location with more than half of flights impacted.

Last week, the head of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority said delays at Canada’s busiest travel hub are declining, but stopped short of making specific commitments or timelines to improved travel times going forward.

Transport Canada says the government and the aviation industry are working together to improve travel, including through meeting with stakeholders, boosting staff level and improving the ArriveCAN app.

Air Canada is also facing heat for refusing compensation claims to passengers, citing staff shortages resulting from the pandemic.

RELATED: What’s really going on at Toronto’s Pearson airport?

‘On path to restore reliability,’: Pearson officials

Officials at Pearson Airport provided an update on Friday into their ongoing efforts to fix the many problems that are affecting travellers.

“We are on path to restore predictability and reliability to air travel,” said GTAA CEO Deborah Flint. “Flight delays, cancellations, long wait times, these are the stories from our friends and from our families.”

The GTAA said 44 per cent of flights were on time last week, up from an average of 35 per cent over the four previous weeks.

“Forty per cent is not a number that we would strive for, but it is certainly better than some of (numbers) we were seeing in the earlier parts of summer,” said Flint. “I look forward to the days when we are back above 50.”

Flint said that for domestic travel, the average wait time for bags to arrive at the carousel is now 24 minutes, a three-minute improvement over the previous four-week average.

As well, she said there were fewer instances where passengers were held on their planes to make room in the customs hall, happening 19 times in the last week. The airport previously saw a four-week rolling average of 60 plane holds.

On July 13, Toronto Pearson International Airport announced a new digital tool aimed at helping passengers navigate through the current strained air transportation system.

With files from Lucas Casaletto