A former NHL player stranded at Toronto airport due to delays has criticized the facility, along with Air Canada, in a viral video uploaded to social media on Monday.
Ryan Whitney, a former Pittsburgh Penguins professional hockey player, was trying to travel from Edmonton, Alta. to Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday, when he encountered a series of delays that would keep him at the airport until Monday morning.
“I don’t even know where to explain,” the former NHL player said in a video uploaded to his Twitter account, which has since garnered nearly 800,000 views in four hours.
He says he landed in Toronto around 3pm on Sunday and spent three hours in line to go through customs, only to find that his connecting flight to Boston had been canceled.
“At this point, I go and see that there is a line of about 400 people with about two Air Canada employees,” Whitney said. “There [were] a million canceled flights and everyone just panicked. “
After waiting in line for nearly six hours, hoping for help, Whitney said Air Canada closed the counter and told other customers to seek help elsewhere.
So Whitney said he decided to re-enter the Canadian part of the airport, which means he has to go through customs again – this time Canadian.
“By the time I finally talk to someone from Air Canada, it’s 1 in the morning,” Whitney said. At this point, he says he asked for his luggage back because he was considering traveling across the Canada-US border to Buffalo and catching a flight to Boston once there. He said Air Canada did not allow him to take his bags.
Instead, he said he had been booked for a new flight from Toronto at 8 a.m. to Boston.
I’m still at Pearson International Airport.
– Ryan Whitney (@ ryanwhitney6) June 6, 2022
After arriving nearly four hours earlier for his rescheduled flight, Whitney says Air Canada told him he had actually booked a ticket for another flight from Toronto to Montreal, where he would contact Boston.
The problem? Whitney said he was not informed of the change in advance and the flight was due to take off in 50 minutes. Since he had just arrived at the airport, expecting to fly in four hours, he would not clear security in time to make his flight to Montreal.
“I started laughing,” he said. “It was either that or crying.”
When Whitney uploaded the video, he said his departure was postponed again. This time until 10 o’clock
When asked for comment, an Air Canada spokesman told CTV News Toronto that “long processing times at airports and other restrictions have led to flight delays and in some cases cancellations, and this could have negative effects not only for our customers. , but can also affect the resources and operations of our employees. “
“These factors, together with a problem with the airport’s baggage system on Sunday, are the reason for the cancellation of Mr. Whitney’s original flight (he was re-booked and is flying today),” they said.
“We regret the inconvenience this problem causes to some customers and are working hard with our third-party partners to improve the situation as quickly as possible.”
Delays and long waits have been reported in Toronto Pearson since late April, with the airport blaming staff problems.
Last month, Craig Bradbrook, chief operating officer of the Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), told CP24 that delays could become “unsustainable” as the summer season enters, as authorities forecast approximately 45,000 international arrivals a day this time. .
“I’m so shocked by this place,” Whitney said in her video. “This is the greatest disgrace known to man.”
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