Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra rises during question period in Ottawa on May 2, 2022. Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press
Airlines have to deal with the turbulence of travel at airports across the country, says Transport Minister Omar Alghabra.
The federal government has struggled to respond to scenes of endless lines, flight delays and daily commotion at airports, especially Toronto’s Pearson Airport, a problem the aviation industry has attributed to a shortage of staff. security and federal customs.
“Airlines also have a duty. We are hearing some stories about baggage issues and flight cancellations. Therefore, cancellation, we want to make sure the airlines do their part as well,” he said. Report to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.
“We make sure the airlines keep their share of the business.”
John Gradek, head of McGill University’s aviation management program, says airlines have used Ottawa as a “scapegoat” while scheduling more flights than staff or aircraft to offer, which has led to delays and cancellations.
“Airlines have basically shot themselves in the foot by actually launching a lot more capacity into the world than they have the resources to be able to manage,” he said.
“They’re very aggressive in the market, they get a lot of traffic (planes usually have a 90 percent load factor) and they don’t have any idle assets in case things go wrong. And then this is a formula for disaster when things go wrong. they’re starting to go wrong. “
Passengers receive last-minute emails informing them of repeated delays, plane changes or scheduled booking changes days after the original departure time. The reasons mentioned range from absent pilots and busy baggage handlers to unplanned mechanical maintenance.
Twists in one part of the air travel pipeline can affect others, with overflowing customs areas preventing flight crews from disembarking, for example, or the lack of airline customer service agents aggravating delays.
The Canadian Air Safety Authority has hired more than 900 inspectors since April, although many are still in training, Alghabra said. Ottawa has also suspended COVID-19 randomized testing of vaccinated passengers at least until June 30, following industry demands to prosecute international travelers more quickly.
Not all industry observers agree with the Minister of Transport’s view on more than two months of travel turbulence.
“Airlines have to take responsibility, especially to take care of their customers. But it’s being false when it comes to trying to change the blame,” said Air Canada’s former chief operating officer Duncan Dee. .
“No airline anywhere on the planet can be staffed or acquire enough spare planes to make up for the nearly 90 days of delays caused by government service failures in Canada so far.”
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