Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, Canada’s busiest, has a public relations problem, raising concerns that some people may avoid traveling to the city.
Disgruntled travelers passing through Pearson post their bad experiences on social media, complaining about long lines, flight disruptions and lost luggage.
“Toronto Pearson Airport is a special circle of hell. Worst airport experience ever,” a Florida traveler tweeted last week, along with a photo showing a departures board with more than two dozen flights delayed
The airport’s problems have also featured in major international publications this month, including The News from New YorkThe Wall Street Journaland the BBC.
“This is a national embarrassment,” said Walid Hejazi, an associate professor of economic analysis and policy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. “In the short term, this will clearly affect Canadian tourism.”
Toronto Pearson Airport is a special circle of hell. Worst airport experience ever. Good luck if you have to make a connection here. pic.twitter.com/kSFfaPTn8q
—@NeonRaygun
Due to a sudden increase in travel, airports around the world have been plagued with congestion and flight disruptions.
But Pearson’s problems have drawn particular attention, often because the airport has taken the top spot for the highest percentage of flight delays this summer: 57 percent of all Pearson departures between June 1 and on July 24 were delayed, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. This was the highest rate among the world’s 100 busiest airports.
“Toronto’s airport is world’s worst for delays,” announced a headline in the Wall Street Journal last week.
Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport took second place with nearly 53 percent of flights delayed.
Toronto’s Pearson International has won top honors for airport service for years, but is now at the epicenter of a global air travel crisis https://t.co/uDv3FlDlIl
—@WSJ
As with many airports around the world, Pearson’s problems began when demand spiked in May and many previously laid-off workers, including federal government employees, did not return, leading to staff shortages.
“Aviation roles are highly skilled, so it’s not as simple as hiring someone new and getting them on the terminal floor or on the airfield,” said Tori Gass, spokeswoman for The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) in an email. The GTAA, a not-for-profit corporation, operates Pearson.
But the explanation is of no comfort to inconvenienced passengers.
Business traveler Eric Griffin of Philadelphia says he swears by Pearson for now, after his recent travel experience.
Griffin flew from Philadelphia to Toronto on June 27 for an important meeting with a potential client for his phone accessories company.
Things didn’t go as planned.
Philadelphia’s Eric Griffin, left, flew to Toronto with co-worker Tim Kleczka. Griffin said her flight out was delayed, her luggage went missing and her flight home was cancelled. (Submitted by Eric Griffin)
After Griffin’s Air Canada flight landed in Toronto, he said he sat on the tarmac for at least two hours, then spent the next three hours dealing with his missing checked bag. The bag, which contained important sales-related materials, was not discovered until three days after their meeting.
Then Griffin’s return flight was canceled, so he drove the 500 miles home to Philadelphia.
“At that point, I was just done betting at Pearson Airport. I just didn’t have faith that they were going to get me out of there,” Griffin said in a Zoom interview.
“My experience at Pearson Airport was a zero out of 10 stars. I don’t think it could have gone any worse.”
He too took to social media, writing, “Don’t ever fly to Toronto Pearson Airport this year,” in a Facebook post.
The return of travel?
Although travel has increased recently, it has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. According to Statistics Canadathe number of foreign arrivals to Canada by air in June was down by about a third compared to June 2019, when adjusted for recent changes in air travel tracking.
The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) says the problems at Pearson, along with the remaining travel restrictions such as the ArrivalCan entry applicationthey are making return trips difficult.
Jessica Ng of the Ontario Tourism Industry Association says problems at Pearson Airport, along with remaining travel restrictions such as the ArriveCan entry application, make it difficult to restart travel. (CBC)
“People are deciding, ‘You know what? Based on what we’re seeing, we’re just not going to travel to Canada, to Ontario, to Toronto, because it’s seen as too cumbersome,” said Jessica Ng, TIAO’s director of policy and government affairs.
“It affects … what people think of Canada as a top travel destination and it affects tourism businesses as they come 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 affect business travel, which picks up in the fall.
“From a reputational perspective, we don’t want to get to that point and we need to get ahead of ourselves,” said Jennifer van der Valk, a spokeswoman for the trade board.
What went wrong?
Pearson is the second busiest airport in North America in terms of international traffic, after New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to the GTAA.
In addition to dealing with staff shortages, GTAA’s Gass said Canada’s strict travel restrictions during the height of the pandemic virtually brought the industry to a standstill, making the increase “much steeper than other countries.” .
Rotman’s Hejazi argues that there should have been better pre-planning and that Canada’s major airlines bit off more than they could chew.
“The airlines sold too many tickets, more tickets than the airport’s capacity could handle,” he said.
LOOK | Baggage delays add to travel woes:
Baggage delays add to the woes of Canadian travel
Baggage delays add to the problems facing Canadian air travelers, with some airports seeing piles of bags piling up and some travelers not receiving their luggage for the entire trip.
Canada’s two largest airlines, WestJet and Air Canada, said both proactively reduced their flights this summer by 20 and 25 percent, respectively. Air Canada cut thousands more flights at the end of June, when travel chaos spread across the world.
Meanwhile, both the GTAA and the federal government said they have been working hard to increase staff and speed up the movement of passengers through the airport. Efforts to streamline the passenger process include moving random arrival checks out of the airport and adding more self-service kiosks at customs.
“We’re seeing improvements, but we still have work to do to smooth the journey for passengers,” Gass said.
Transport Canada also noted improvements, stating that during the week of July 11-17, 58 aircraft were held on the tarmac at Pearson, an 84 per cent decline compared to the peak period during the week of the 23 to May 29.
“This decrease shows the significant progress that has been 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 go 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.