Air Canada: Irma evacuations most complicated operation since Sept. 11, 2001, response

MONTREAL — Extricating customers from areas in the path of the deadly Hurricane Irma has frustrated some passengers, but Air Canada says it was perhaps the most complex manoeuvre since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S.

The country’s largest airline has had to respond to such natural disasters as the Japanese tsunami, huge Haitian earthquake, Iceland volcano and several terrorist attacks. But the breadth of the storm and time spent dealing with it made it the most complicated in 16 years, said Kevin O’Connor, managing director of systems operations control.

“This is leading it up there and we’re not out of it yet,” he said.

O’Connor acknowledged that there have been complaints, but he said responding to the storm isn’t as simple as just adding a few flights.

“These are not global hubs that can handle dozens and dozens of aircraft on the ground at a single time.”

An Air Canada passenger plane, for example, wasn’t allowed to leave the Turks and Caicos with evacuees for several days.

Local authorities had safety concerns as the airport was badly damaged by Irma, but the plane was scheduled to leave late Monday after Canadian officials negotiated its departure, said Transport Minister Marc Garneau.

A storm of criticism erupted over the weekend from family and friends of Canadians trapped by the hurricanes, who questioned why more wasn’t done sooner.

In all, Air Canada say it has operated 24 special flights over three days and transported nearly 7,000 passengers.

It’s not alone in making the last-minute adjustments. WestJet, Air Transat, Sunwing and U.S. carriers also went into action.

WestJet Airlines operated 22 rescue flights — 18 before the hurricane to the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Florida and four after the storm to St. Maarten and the Turks and Caicos.

Sunwing Airlines said it has sent nearly 30 flights to return customers from destinations under hurricane watch or warning.

It said the high number of passengers in Cuba, unexpected airport closures and the complexity of transporting people to the airport complicated the effort.

Meanwhile, airports up and down Florida remained closed Monday and flight cancellations moved north along with Irma.

More than 4,200 U.S. flights scheduled for Monday were cancelled by mid-afternoon — and more than 9,000 since Saturday — according to tracking service FlightAware.

Irma weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm and did not cause as much damage in Florida as some forecasters had feared. Airline stocks rose, led by American Airlines, which has a huge base in Miami.

American had planned to restart in Miami on Monday but pushed service back until Tuesday. Spokesman Ross Feinstein said the airline had to wait for approval to fly from U.S. federal aviation officials, and until security screeners and airport vendors could return to work.

Terminal buildings at Miami International Airport suffered significant water damage, and ceiling tiles at gate areas fell down throughout the airport, said spokesman Greg Chin. Crews were mopping up.