Airport woes continue as passenger volumes increase
Pearson still experiencing security waits of up to an hour during peak times
What do you get when you cross a labour shortage with a severe thunderstorm and pent-up travel demand over a May long weekend?
At Toronto Pearson Airport, at least, it could be a long wait or even a cancelled flight. And though the thunderstorm may be over, air travellers may be in for more such delays in the coming months.
That’s what happened to many travellers over the Victoria Day long weekend. Photos and videos posted to social media show airport halls filled with masked travellers, baggage carousels surrounded and piled high with suitcases, and long, snaking lines.
While some travellers were more fortunate — posting photos of almost-empty airports — it’s clear that the chaos at airports isn’t going away as the summer months draw nearer. Catherine Cosgrove of Teamsters Canada, which represents around 1,000 GardaWorld screening workers across the country, said airport delays are here to stay for the long-term due to a shortage of workers in airport security.
Airport delays were already an issue, largely blamed on a combination of labour shortages in the security sector and an unexpected influx of travellers.
The unions representing airport security workers pointed fingers at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), which contracts out to third-party companies such as Allied Universal and GardaWorld. The unions say the agency is understaffed and workers are underpaid and overworked.
Long-weekend plans and the thunderstorm made these problems more acute, said the airport authority in charge of Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
Labour shortages and extensive COVID-19 requirements are to blame for the ongoing challenges at airports, which were exacerbated by the storm, delaying flights and baggage, said Ryan White, a spokesperson for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA).
On Saturday, 10 per cent of arrivals and departures to and from Pearson were cancelled due to the weather, said White in an email.
“Over the next few weeks as passenger volumes continue to increase, there is an urgent need to effectively manage passenger loads and enable recovery at Toronto Pearson,” he said.
The longest wait times at Pearson this weekend were on Saturday, said CATSA spokesperson Suzanne Perseo.
“This past Saturday during the busy morning period we experienced wait times up to 60 minutes at peak,” Perseo wrote in an email, adding that for the rest of the long weekend, security screening wait times were less than half an hour at peak.
The storm impacted travel for airline passengers, adding to delays and lineups caused by a shortage of security workers, said a spokesperson for the office of the Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra.
“CATSA has recently hired 400 new screening officers who are going through various stages of training. We are continuing to work closely with CATSA, CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) and air sector partners to support the industry as (the) level of travel increases.”
Monette Pasher, interim president for the Canadian Airport Council (CAC), said airports are complex ecosystems made up of a lot of moving parts, and there are multiple factors leading to delays for both arriving and departing passengers.
For departing passengers, the shortage of security workers is the main problem, she said, while for international arriving passengers, COVID-19 protocols are taking two to four times longer than they otherwise would.
On Sunday, Montreal’s airport had wait times of up to two hours for arriving international passengers because of this, said Pasher. There were similar delays in Toronto, she said.
“We really are pressuring the government to work quickly and urgently to save our summer travel season,” she said, adding that the airport council is recommending those public health protocols be lifted to help avoid further delays.
Dave Flowers, president of District 140 at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents around 4,000 airport security workers in B.C. and Ontario, previously told the Star that while hiring is being ramped up, turnover is making it difficult to address the staffing shortage.
Cosgrove said any event that adds pressure to the system, such as a storm or a long weekend — or both — will “further wreak havoc on an environment already being held together at the seams with Band-Aid solutions.”
The events of the weekend only intensified the call for CATSA, the federal government, and the thirdparty contractors to address the problems behind the delays, said White.
GardaWorld deferred to CATSA for comments about the long weekend.
GardaWorld previously told the Star that the pandemic resulted in absenteeism and a staff shortage, and that the company is doing everything it can to hire and train new workers.
It’s no small thing to train an airport security worker — the job requires weeks of training as well as security clearance that can take months to receive, meaning the shortage can’t be solved overnight.
“In an already constrained labour pool … the positions with CATSA are critical safety positions with stringent requirements, making the available qualified applicant pool even smaller,” said Allied Universal spokesperson Sherita Coffelt in an email to the Star last week.
However, Coffelt said Tuesday that the long weekend didn’t bring any major wait times at the Vancouver airport, and Allied Universal is “working diligently” to increase staffing levels.
The company has added more than 100 new employees in the past three weeks, she said.
Airlines have expressed concern about the ongoing delays as interest in travel continues to ramp up with the warmer months ahead.
WestJet spokesperson Madison Kruger said WestJet flew more than 55,500 guests on 534 flights on Friday alone, marking the airline’s highest single-day total so far in 2022. But despite the uptick in business, it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
“While the significant weather event in Ontario did add to cancellations this weekend, we continued to experience unacceptable challenges and remain extremely concerned with the state of services provided by government agencies at our air borders and security screening points,” said Kruger in an emailed statement.
Air Canada didn’t respond to the Star’s request for comment Tuesday.
CATSA encourages travellers to arrive to the airport two hours in advance for domestic flights and three hours for U.S. and international flights.