Extreme cold sparks chaos in Canada airports

MONTREAL: Snow, lengthy de-icing procedures and missing crews created havoc at Canada’s main airports on Monday (Tuesday in cancelled or delayed out of the country’s biggest city Toronto.

A deep freeze has settled over large parts of Canada and the United States, bringing extreme cold, piles of snow, and icy conditions.

From the early hours of New Year’s Day, Air Canada warned that holiday travel could be hectic, issuing a travel alert for passengers using airports in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Ottawa and waiving the usual fee for ticket changes.

As the day wore on, the delays mounted, with take-off delays of collected from airport websites.

In Toronto, snow aggravated the situation, and by 2030 GMT, - celled or delayed, according to

Passengers asked for help—and vented their ire—on social media.

“You ppl have cost me two days of my vacation and a day’s salary,” traveler Carla Whyte said on Twitter.

“UNACCEPTABLE. Ruined my vacation I have been waiting for all year. This is insane. Great way to start my 2018, @AirCanada,” chimed in Anne-Marie Robart.

One US citizen said he left Mon- treal more than two hours late— - to. Air Canada told him the earliest he could leave was Tuesday night.

On top of the poor weather, WestJet said it had to cancel one

“We would never wish to inconvenience our guests this way and we truly apologize,” the airline said.

DEEP FREEZE People walk down an icy street in Quebec City, Canada on December 27, 2017. In Canada, extreme cold warnings were issued for scores of communities across the country, including the heavily populated provinces of Ontario and Quebec. While...