As Canadian airports grapple with their own set of problems amid the busy summer travel season, they are by no means alone.
Long lines, canceled flights, delays and lost luggage are problems creeping into not only Canada’s major airports, but other countries as well, says a travel expert.
“We’re seeing the exact same problems at every major airport in the world,” Jennifer Weatherhead, founder of travelandstyle.ca, told CTV News Channel on Sunday.
“So Europe is facing a lot of these problems, the US is definitely facing a lot of these problems, not only with flight delays but also with cancellations, because they say sometimes they don’t have enough pilots to fill these flights and take people from one place to another. So it’s a worldwide problem and I would take that into account.”
Weatherhead advises travelers to arrive at their departure airports as soon as possible and to verify that their travel insurance covers trip cancellations, interruptions, and lost or stolen luggage.
“Be prepared for delays at any time,” he said.
The aviation industry shed thousands of jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic as travel demand plummeted. Now, with COVID-19 restrictions lifted in many jurisdictions, travel demand has picked up, but staffing levels have not kept pace.
Travel in the US has been particularly strained recently due to the Fourth of July holiday weekend, with airports seeing their biggest crowds since the pandemic began more than two years ago.
Tracking site FlightAware reported more than 6,800 flight delays and 587 other cancellations at US airports on Friday and more than 2,200 delays and 540 cancellations on record as of Saturday morning.
Airlines like Delta, Southwest and JetBlue have reduced their summer schedules to avoid more problems, something that Air Canada and WestJet have also done.
Outside of North America, a technical malfunction on Saturday left at least 1,500 bags stuck at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, with 15 flights departing without luggage.
Airport workers are also on strike in France, demanding more hiring and wages to keep up with global inflation. As a result, the aviation authorities canceled several flights.
In Amsterdam, the city’s Schiphol airport announced last month that limit the number of travelers leaving each day to avoid long queues and missed flights.
The airport is also advising travelers to arrive no more than four hours before your flight to ensure a “smooth flow” at check-in and security.
Richard Vanderlubbe, director of the Association of Canadian Travel Agents and president of tripcentral.ca, told CTV News Channel on Saturday that if a pilot or crew calls in sick, an airline has to scramble to find a qualified pilot for that plane. in particular.
Many people also left the airline industry and travel for other “safer havens,” he said.
“Of course when we’re under restrictions and we’ve had all these restrictions for so long, expecting things to turn on like a light switch, it’s not very realistic,” he said.
Justus Smith told CTV News Channel on Sunday that he booked a flight from Regina to Boston, but canceled his connecting flight through Toronto on June 25.
He got a flight for the next morning and decided to spend the night at the airport.
Although he arrived 13 hours early, Smith says he was unable to clear customs more than four hours before his departure.
Smith says he ultimately missed his flight after it was delayed through customs and security.
He eventually made it to Boston, but says he didn’t get his checked luggage.
Now, a week later, Smith is still waiting to collect her bags.
“I spent the week in a professional development course. I was the only one in shorts and a baseball cap because I had no clothes,” he said.
Despite the situation, Smith credited the airport staff for the job they are doing under difficult circumstances.
“The individual airport workers are amazing. Everyone is doing the best they can,” he said.
“You see a lot of angry customers. There’s no point in getting angry. It’s frustrating, but you can’t take it out on the staff.”
With archives from CTV News and The Associated Press