Toronto’s Pearson International Airport — Canada’s busiest — has a PR problem, prompting concerns that some people may avoid traveling to the city.
Disgruntled passengers passing through Pearson have been posting about their bad experiences on social media, complaining of long lines, flight delays and missing luggage.
“Toronto’s Pearson Airport is a particular circle of hell. Worst airport experience,” a Florida traveler tweeted last week, along with a photo showing a departures board with more than two dozen delayed flights.
The airport’s problems were also featured in major international publications this month, including The New York TimesThe Wall Street Journaland BBC.
“It’s a national shame,” said Walid Hejazi, an associate professor of economic analysis and policy at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. “In the short term, this will obviously affect Canadian tourism.”
Toronto’s Pearson Airport is a particular circle of hell. Worst airport experience ever. Good luck if you need to make a connection here. pic.twitter.com/kSFfaPTn8q
—@NeonRaygun
Due to a sudden surge in travel, airports around the world were hit with traffic jams and flight disruptions.
But Pearson’s problems have drawn particular attention, often because the airport scored the highest rate of flight delays this summer: 57 percent of all Pearson departures between June 1 and July 24 were delayed, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. This is the highest percentage among the 100 busiest airports in the world.
“Toronto Airport Is World’s Worst for Delays,” declared a Wall Street Journal headline last week.
Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport came in second with almost 53 percent of delayed flights.
Toronto’s Pearson International has won top honors for airport services for years, but is now at the epicenter of a global air travel meltdown https://t.co/uDv3FlDlIl
—@WSJ
As with many airports around the world, Pearson’s problems began when demand increased in May and many previously laid-off workers, including federal government employees, did not return – causing staff shortages.
“Aviation roles are highly skilled, so it’s not as simple as hiring someone new and putting them on the floor of the terminal or at the airport,” Tori Gass, spokesperson for The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), said in an email. GTAA, a not-for-profit corporation, operates Pearson.
But the explanation is no comfort to the uncomfortable passengers.
Business traveler Eric Griffin of Philadelphia says he’s sworn off Pearson for now after his recent trip.
Griffin flew from Philadelphia to Toronto on June 27 for an important meeting with a prospective client of his phone accessories company.
Things didn’t go according to plan.
Philadelphia’s Eric Griffin, left, flew to Toronto with teammate Tim Kletzka. Griffin said his departing flight was delayed, his luggage went missing and his flight home was cancelled. (Submitted by Eric Griffin)
After Griffin’s Air Canada flight landed in Toronto, he said he was on the tarmac for at least two hours, and then he spent the next three hours dealing with his missing checked bag. The bag, which contained important sales-related materials, did not turn up until three days after his meeting.
Griffin’s return flight was then canceled, so he drove the 500 miles home to Philadelphia.
“I was done betting at Pearson Airport at that point. I just didn’t have faith that they were going to get me out of there,” Griffin said in an interview with Zoom.
“My experience at Pearson Airport was zero out of 10 stars. I don’t think it could have gotten any worse.’
He also took to social media, writing “Never fly to Toronto Pearson Airport this year” in a Facebook post.
Return trip?
Although travel has increased recently, it has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. According to Statistics Canadathe number of foreigners arriving in Canada by air in June fell by about a third compared to June 2019, when adjusted to account for recent changes in air travel tracking.
The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) says the problems at Pearson, along with remaining travel restrictions such as the ArriveCan check-in appprevent return trips.
Jessica Ng of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario says problems at Pearson Airport, along with remaining travel restrictions such as the ArriveCan check-in app, are holding back travel resurgence. (CBC)
“People decide that, ‘You know what? Based on what we’re seeing, we’re just not going to travel to Canada, Ontario, Toronto because it’s considered too cumbersome,” said Jessica Ng, TIAO’s Director of Policy and Government Affairs.
“It’s affecting … what people think of Canada as a top tourist destination, and it’s affecting the tourism business just as they’re coming out of two years of restrictions and uncertainty.”
The Toronto Region Board of Trade said if Pearson’s problems are not resolved soon, it could negatively impact business travel, which increases in the fall.
“Reputationally, we don’t want to get to this point and we have to face it,” said Jennifer van der Valk, a spokeswoman for the trade council.
What went wrong?
Pearson is the second-busiest airport in North America in terms of international traffic, after New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to the GTAA.
Besides dealing with staff shortages, the GTAA’s Gass said Canada’s strict travel restrictions at the height of the pandemic effectively brought the industry to a standstill, making growth “much steeper than other countries.”
Rotman’s Hejazi argued that there should have been better advance planning and that the major Canadian airlines bit off more than they could chew.
“The airlines sold too many tickets, more tickets than the airport capacity could handle,” he said.
WATCH | Baggage delays contribute to travel problems:
Baggage delays add to the woes of travel in Canada
Baggage delays add to the problems faced by Canadian air travelers, with piles of bags piled up at some airports and some passengers not receiving their luggage for the entire trip.
Canada’s two largest airlines, WestJet and Air Canada, said they both proactively reduced their flights this summer by 20 and 25 percent, respectively. Air Canada cut thousands more flights in late June, when travel chaos spread across the globe.
Meanwhile, the GTAA and the federal government said they were working hard to increase staffing and speed up the movement of passengers through the airport. Efforts to streamline the passenger process include moving random arrival tests outside the airport and adding more self-service customs kiosks.
“We’re seeing improvements, but we still have work to do to make it easier for passengers to travel,” Gass said.
Transport Canada also noted improvements, saying that for the week of July 11 to 17, 58 aircraft were held on the tarmac at Pearson, an 84 per cent drop from the peak period during the week of May 23 to 29.
“This reduction demonstrates the significant progress made to date to streamline passenger flows at Canada’s largest airport,” Transport Canada spokeswoman Laurel Lennox said in an email.
Still, for peace of mind, business traveler Griffin plans to drive to Toronto for his next business meeting in September.
“I can predict when I’ll get there and when I’ll get home,” he said.
Add Comment