Pearson Airport in Mississauga will likely see rise in flight disruptions for holiday season
Published November 1, 2022 at 2:12 pm
Travellers who plan to use Pearson Airport in Mississauga this holiday season will be faced once again with an increase in flight disruptions, the airline industry predicts.
After a chaotic summer in which passengers had to deal with delayed and cancelled flights, lost luggage and lengthy lineups inside Pearson’s terminals, things settled down somewhat in more recent weeks at Canada’s busiest airport.
However, travel industry representatives told a parliamentary committee hearing last week in Ottawa that flight delays and cancellations will be unavoidable this holiday season at the country’s largest airports given the continuation of labour shortage problems.
They said problems retaining pilots, air traffic controllers and other workers have still not been resolved as the busy winter air travel season approaches.
Air Line Pilots Association Canada president Tim Perry told MPs that airlines are not doing enough to keep pilots because they have resisted increasing their pay.
He said carriers are relying on temporary foreign workers to fill the employment gap, which in some cases raises concerns around training and safety.
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Meanwhile, the air traffic controller shortage, which existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, continues. And it’s not expected to be addressed in time even for next summer, according to Canadian Air Traffic Control Association president Nick von Schoenberg.
He told the parliamentary committee the shortage of controllers has put unacceptable demands on workers because there are no longer enough air traffic controllers to meet requirements.
The system has always depended on a high amount of overtime work undertaken by controllers in order to function, he said.
“This is resulting in unacceptable demands on workers as they are routinely expected to work long days with insufficient support.”
Andrew Gibbons, vice-president of external affairs for WestJet Airlines, told the committee the pandemic was the greatest crisis his company and the sector have ever faced.
“We’re not out of the woods,” he added. “We’re still facing the effects of this crisis.”
Gibbons has called on NAV Canada for a reliable training system and said that the corporation must do whatever it takes to retain staff.
In October, Pearson Airport announced it was raising its prices charged to both passengers and airlines.
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates Pearson, said it will raise both the Airport Improvement Fee (AIF) charged to passengers and the Aeronautic Rates charged to airlines.
The hikes take effect in January and are expected to help pay for increased staffing and airport renovations.
The AIF, currently at $30 for departing passengers and $6 for connecting travellers, will increase to $35 and $7, respectively. In pre-pandemic times, passengers paid $25 and $4, respectively.
By comparison, such fees at American airports are capped at $18 per round trip, per passenger.
Also, aircraft landing at Pearson will pay four per cent more come January. A typical plane arriving at the Mississauga airport pays about $4,875 now, and that will rise to just over $5,000.