Good reply, funny how if one says anything against AC (who are one of the worst at planning or managing a problem) you defend them to the hilt. But when it's you slagging another org it's A okay, especially with no underlying facts, such as this case.

In regards to gridlock, here's a simple lesson in logistics:

When there's a ground stop/delay due to weather (ac can't take off or are are departure controlled) a line up starts. Meanwhile planes are still landing so gridlock happens, sometimes it just can't be prevented. Especially when airlines continue to merrily load their planes knowing full well that there's a delay either in de-icing or take off's.

YYZ has one of the most modern (and environmentally friendly) de-icing facilities in the world by the way. But you can't fight mother nature at it's worst, as experienced by airports all over the north east recently. Did you want the pilot to ignore ATC and not bother de-icing so that you could enjoy your martini sooner?

I kinda laugh at passengers who get mad when flights are delayed in severe weather and expect planes to take off the same as any bright sunny summers day - but I expect a seasoned flyer to know better.

Here's a hint: when the roads to the airport are jammed and gridlocked due to the weather, there's a good chance the airport will be too..... just sayin'

AC is notorious (as are other airlines) for loading planes up knowing it's going to be a long haul to de-icing and then the runway and therefore further clogging up an already busy apron. It's not the delays that's the problem in my mind , it's how the airline handles them, my experience with AC is not so good.