MONTREAL –
Canadian airlines and airports took the top spots for flight delays over the July long weekend, notching more than almost anyone else in the world.
Air Canada ranked first for delays on Saturday and Sunday, which affected a total of more than 700 trips, or about two-thirds of flights, according to tracking service FlightAware. That was more than 14 percentage points above the three carriers tied for second place.
Jazz Aviation – a Halifax-based company that provides regional services for Air Canada – and the lower-cost Air Canada Rouge had 53 per cent of flight delays, tied for second place with Greek regional airline Olympic Air.
On Saturday, WestJet and budget subsidiary Swoop came in third and fourth with 55 percent.
As for the airport, Toronto’s Pearson took second place on Sunday after 53 per cent of departures were detained, second only to China’s main Guangzhou airport. Pearson beat Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Frankfurt Airport in Germany.
Montreal’s airport ranked sixth on Sunday with 43 percent of delayed departures, tied with London Heathrow, according to FlightAware data.
Last week, Air Canada said it would cut more than 15 percent of its flight schedule, nearly 10,000 flights, in July and August as the country’s aviation network shrinks due to a huge resurgence in travel.
Bookended by statutory holidays in Canada and the US, the weekend saw scenes of long lines and baggage mazes flood social media as airports around the world grappled with the start of peak travel season after two years of pent-up demand.
Passenger traffic at Canadian airports is now at 2019 levels during peak hours, though closer to 80 percent of pre-pandemic totals, experts say.
“It’s going to be with us all summer,” said Helene Becker, an airline analyst at investment firm Cowen.
“Almost every airline encourages people to retire early or take time off. And those people who retired early may not want to go back to work,” she said of airline employees.
“It’s hard to build back from those lows.”
Some pilots have yet to have their licenses renewed, while ground crew and baggage-handling positions remain unfilled – or quickly vacated – due to low wages and stressful working conditions, unions say.
Government agencies have begun hiring airport and customs security officers, with more than 900 new security screening devices introduced since April — although not all are authorized to operate the scanners — according to the federal Department of Transportation.
“Airlines have also used the pandemic to remove aircraft types from their fleets and ground and retire their oldest aircraft. It’s hard to get these airplanes back after you park them without doing a lot of maintenance,” Becker added.
“As demand continues to grow, we are primarily looking at the inability of airlines to easily accommodate it. And I think that’s true all over the world.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 4, 2022
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