Delays and cancellations ease at Trudeau airport, but turbulence persists

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Things are slowly improving in Montreal and other major Canadian airports, but there is still a long way to go before pre-pandemic normalcy is restored.

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About 42 percent of flights to Trudeau International Airport were delayed during the week ending Sunday, while seven percent were canceled entirely. compiled figures by Fredericton-based analytics firm Data Wazo, an improvement from late June.

37% of domestic flights were delayed last week and 10% were cancelled, up from 43% and 25%, respectively, for the week ending June 28, Data Wazo figures show.

Airlines including Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways have cut thousands of flights from their summer schedules in recent weeks to ease the strain caused by myriad delays and cancellations at airports around the world. On Monday, London Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest airfield, apologized to the passengers whose travel has been hit by labor shortages and warned that it may ask airlines to scrap even more flights if the chaos continues.

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“Dorval could have improved a little bit, but we still have to worry about the rest of the world,” Montreal-based travel agent Gena Ray said in an interview Monday. “Travel is back with a vengeance. People have pent-up demand, but the industry doesn’t seem ready for it.

“There are not enough staff and service is not always available, even though post-COVID prices are high and business is good. Also, COVID is making a comeback. So do I think things are looking up? No. Not yet anyway.

While improvements were seen at Trudeau airport over the past week, “the situation remains difficult in the current context, especially during peak periods,” Éric Forest, a spokesman for Aéroports de Montréal, said by email on Monday. Air Canada did not immediately respond to an email request for comment for this story.

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Testing backlogs in Montreal have eased, though they still fall short of national standards.

Around 70 per cent of passengers at Trudeau airport were screened within 15 minutes during the week of June 27-July 3. Transport Canada said in a statement Friday. That’s less than the average of 80 per cent recorded at Canadian airports.

The proportion of passengers waiting 30 minutes or more at Trudeau airport is now less than two percent, Transport Canada also said.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has hired nearly 1,200 screening officers since April, Transport Canada said. It is unclear how many of them have been deployed to Trudeau airport.

Thorough background checks make hiring airport staff a long and complex process, ADM argues.

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“Employees must not only be trained, they must also be granted access to operate in restricted areas following a rigorous investigation by Transport Canada,” Forest said. “The industry has lost a lot of staff during the pandemic and new hires now have to take time to familiarize themselves with the airport environment during often atypical hours.”

Recent schedule changes announced by carriers “should take some pressure off the system and help restore balance to the benefit of passengers,” Forest added.

Even as delays ease, lost luggage remains a major concern for travelers. Many news reports have shown lots of unclaimed baggage waiting at airports like Toronto’s Pearson International.

Ray, a travel consultant and cruise specialist for Direct Travel, said one of her clients is concerned about flying Air Transat to Barcelona and not being able to collect checked luggage in time to board a cruise ship.

Another customer recently embarked on a three-week trip to Europe with just a carry-on bag out of fear his checked luggage would end up missing, Ray said. Even the carry-on option doesn’t always work, as some airlines have started to force passengers to check their luggage.

“I’m dealing with a lot of what ifs,” Ray said. “If you check in that bag and your flight is cancelled, it’s not easy to get it back.”

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