Global Courant 2023-05-09 13:01:00
Remember last summer’s travel footage and more recent winter vacations? The lost bags, long waits on tarmacs and piles of luggage upon arrival? Some Canadian airports are promising travelers that those scenes won’t be the norm this summer.
“We listened to our customers,” Deborah Flint, president and CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said on Pearson International Monday. “The fear, uncertainty, frustration and lack of control passengers felt last year is one we will never forget.”
With nearly all COVID-19-related travel restrictions lifted, the pent-up desire to get away is expected to lead to even more Canadians traveling by air in the coming months.
“Demand is really, really big,” says travel agent Ken Stewart, owner of Calgary-based Crowfoot Travel Solutions. “Everyone started traveling again last year. And those who didn’t get away last year count towards the number who will get away this year.”
Stewart says there is demand across the board for the summer – with people wanting to fly domestically, to the US, to Europe and even to destinations in the sun.
Hundreds of passengers queued for hours at times at Toronto Pearson Airport security checkpoints last summer. The CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority says it won’t happen this year. (Jonathan Castell/CBC)
What’s Happening at YYZ (Toronto)
Pearson, Canada’s largest airport, saw overcrowded baggage halls, stranded passengers, flight delays and cancellations last summer. But Flint says things will be different this year.
Last summer, on-time performance was just 35 percent, she said. “Currently, our airlines are departing with 70 percent on-time performance metrics,” she said.
Last year, Pearson hired 10,000 new employees — an increase of nearly 22 percent — out of a total of 50,000 employees — about the same level as 2019. That includes 130 new hires announced last week to help in critical areas at Pearson such as bus transportation, baggage handling and terminal operations.
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The airport expects about 80 percent of the summer traffic it saw before the pandemic — an increase of about 10 percent from last year. And Flint says employees are now more experienced, too.
“Last year we saw an environment of rapid hiring,” she said, referring to the period right after many travel restrictions were lifted and there was a huge increase in air traffic. She attributed some of the delays in certain processing areas of the airport to inexperience.
“This is a very complicated thing for an entry-level employee to operate,” Flint said. “It’s very regulatory and complex, so it’s very hard to learn that environment day one, day two or week two on the job.”
The most important systems have also been upgraded. The airport has streamlined its contactless check-in and boarding processes through a new partnership with the Canada Border Services Agency to deploy biometric e-gates and speed up traveler clearance.
The airport also uses artificial intelligence to better manage passengers’ checked baggage.
Day 65:50Air Canada said their luggage was lost. Their air tags said otherwise
What’s happening at YUL (Montreal)
Montréal-Trudeau International Airport says it has also been working to increase staff and will complete improvements to baggage handling systems and connecting passenger facilities in June. It expects summer passenger traffic to return to 2019 levels, when the airport served six million travelers from June to August.
“Given the high number of passengers expected this summer, it is of course possible that there will be a bit more waiting than usual during peak hours, especially in the early morning and late afternoon and evening,” said communications consultant Eric Forest of Aéroports de Montréal. in an email to CBC News.
The airport encourages passengers to use all available technology to make the process smoother. That includes YUL Expressallowing travelers to pre-book passage through the security checkpoints, and Mobile passport controlan app that allows people to submit passport details and customs declaration before leaving for the US.
Long wait times were also the norm at Montreal’s Trudeau Airport last summer. The airport encourages travelers to use technology to make the process smoother, such as providing passport details in advance. (CBC/Radio Canada)
What Happens at YVR (Vancouver)
Vancouver’s YVR says it expects August to be the busiest summer month, but expects an average of 81,000 passengers to pass through each summer day — roughly on par with pre-COVID figures.
“In preparation, we have been working with airlines as they develop their summer schedules to ensure we are ready to get passengers to their destinations safely and efficiently,” a YVR spokesperson said in an emailed statement to CBC News.
The airport says it is reviewing every area of its operations and service to meet summer demand, a move that followed the service interruptions of last winter.
What’s Happening at YYC (Calgary)
While Calgary’s airport didn’t experience the kind of delays other hubs experienced last year, given the high demand across the country, President and CEO Bob Sartor says there’s always the potential for spillovers.
“I think there will be hiccups here and there. There’s only a limited number of agency workers available from the federal government,” he said in Calgary last week.
“It becomes a matter of controlling flight flow. You know, airlines like to operate on peaks… and we have to make sure those peaks aren’t so high that they can’t be maintained properly.”
Calgary’s YYC is the busiest airport in Alberta, but last year didn’t see the kind of delays and long lines like the country’s larger hubs. Still, the airport is bracing for any problems. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
What the airlines are planning
Air Canada says it is taking a “cautious approach” to planning this summer, planning to run 90 percent of its pre-pandemic summer 2019 schedule. “Despite less flying, we actually employ more people than we did in the summer of 2019 and this should further increase resilience,” a spokesperson for the airline said in an email.
“We have added resources and also taken other measures, such as adjusting our schedule to create more connecting time for customers and smoothing peak daytime flights for better customer flow.”
A looming concern for some travelers is potential labor unrest at Canada’s other major airline, WestJet.
About 1,850 WestJet pilots from the Air Line Pilots Association are on the verge of going on strike starting May 16, which could result in anything from refusal to work overtime to a full strike.
WestJet Airlines pilots line an informational picket line at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Monday. The pilots could strike as early as May 16. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)
It’s not clear what that might mean for people who have already booked travel with WestJet, but Sylvie De Bellefeuille, an attorney at Option Consommateurs, a consumer rights nonprofit, told CBC News last week that she believes refunds must be offered.
How travelers and travel agents strategize
Avid traveler Sarah Pew says that after a frustrating hour of waiting on the tarmac for an Air Canada flight in January, and with no compensation, she and her husband decided to go with WestJet’s discount subsidiary Swoop for a June trip to the Dominican Republic.
She’s a little concerned about it, but with inflation driving up the cost of airline tickets, it was all about the bottom line.
“We were like, let’s just try it,” she said. “In the worst case we are again four hours or a day late, but this is at least half the price.”
Sarah Pew and her husband, Craig, on their last vacation before the pandemic, in the Bahamas, in January 2020. The couple plans to fly to the Dominican Republic in June. (Submitted by Sarah Pew)
Stewart, the Calgary-based travel agent, agrees that prices are much higher than people may be used to due to inflation, higher jet fuel costs and huge demand – but says in his experience that the actual airport experience, in terms of wait times and delays, is the improved in recent months.
He suggests booking early to get the best prices and always getting travel insurance.
Pew says she and her husband have simply taken a fatalistic approach to travel — expecting something to go wrong on every day of travel.
“Whether we get bumped out of our seats or our flight is delayed or we get swept up in secondary searches, expect one thing to go wrong so we don’t get so frustrated and upset when it does.”
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