Glitch causes check-in delays at Pearson airport

Toronto Pearson International Airport continues to experience delays due to technical issues with its baggage system.

The problem at the airport’s Terminal 3 began on Tuesday and has been causing delays at check-in for passengers, said a spokesperson for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

“What we are seeing today is a continuation of some of the same problems from yesterday,” Robin Smith said. “This is an all hands on deck situation for us.”

Smith said the issue involves the baggage system being unable to read luggage tags and automatically send each piece of luggage to the correct place in the airport.

He said the problem was affecting some departing flights and urged travellers to allow extra time to account for the possibility of delays.

Additional staff are on hand and airlines are using a simplified process to speed up check-in, he said.

“There is an element of manual processing. (We are using) a different kind of baggage tag, which is simpler,” Smith said. “We are seeing better results with it.”

The airport is also asking passengers who only have carry-on bags to consider checking in online.

The airport has apologized for the delays caused by the issues with its baggage system.

“We are confident in our contingency plan that is going to allow passengers to continue checking in, moving through the security clearance process and getting to their gates (with) their bags arriving with their flight,” Smith said.