vernonc

Air Canada, Toronto Pearson slammed by former NHL player | CTV News

Obviously many failures here. Baggage handling issues. Not enough AC staff. Lack of communication, etc..
Right now, AC and GTAA seem to blame the Feds and their testing regime. I think there seems to be systemic issues at Pearson both with AC and GTAA. They seem to have staff to ensure passengers do not deplane while metering is in process unless they have connecting flights but they do not have enough staff at connecting points or in immigration hall. They do random swab tests at the Nexus line but no where else.
On my AC flight from VCE arriving in YYZ, bags were removed from the belt before we got there and the staff were sitting on chairs chatting while passengers were waiting around the belt waiting for bags that had already arrived and off loaded from the belt. Some of us found our own bags and I informed other passengers to check.
GTAA tells me that metering is AC responsibility. AC does not let Nexus pax off the plane even though we do not clog the regular lines.
Both AC and GTAA need some managers to get out of their offices and solve some on the ground issues.
If this continues, people are going to avoid connecting thru YYZ which would in turn have an effect on AC.

rankourabu

Whatever happens this summer, one thing can be certain, blame will be passed around, and one shouldnt expect either AC or GTAA to take any responsibility for the madness.

vernonc

Given the volume of flights and IRROPs in YYZ, I do not understand why AC does not have a bank of phones that connect to remote agents that can scale up or down depending on demand. The same IRROPs desk with 2-3 agents have been around for some time and all it takes is a couple of flights to be delayed/cancelled and you have 200+ people in line. I have never had to stand in line for more than 20 mins at a UA hub for IRROPs. It really is an embarrassment.

YOWgary

I've already started moving my and clients' travel away from Pearson, this is ridiculous.

Not being able to solve the problem overnight is absolutely understandable, but the level to which basic communication is still failing is insane.

recreationaltimetraveller

I will try very carefully to not stray too far off topic because there's a YYZ thread elsewhere. (sorry in advance Adam)

I witnessed this first hand yesterday transiting YYZ from YOW to LAX and was trapped in the chaos for almost an hour when the bag scanning machine used for US Customs went down and everything just stopped.

YYZ has been horrible for the past few months to the point I'm actively avoiding it, but the chaos yesterday was a whole new level of disfunction.

CBP totally unapologetic about the situation, CATSA blaming CBP for the line stopping - it took them 45 minutes to realize that some people (like me) didn't have checked bags and could still travel, and Air Canada refusing to provide any assistance because it was a CBP and CATSA problem not theirs.

In line, I called the concierge to ask if my flight to LAX was going to be delayed because it was about 10 minutes before boarding, we hadn't moved in 45 minutes, and I wasn't sure I was going to make it if it was going to depart on time. The app still said on time, which is why I called the concierge to dig into it a bit further (inbound was from Manchester, so good chance inbound was delayed offloading due to metering) and she assured me it was on time and would board on time. I finally made it through and ran to the gate (as did others in my situation with no bags) only for us to start boarding 45 minutes late (for the reasons I suspected up thread). Had Air Canada been able to provide accurate information I would have felt less stressed.

It's clear that there's poor non-existent communication across all parties involved: airport authority, CBSA/CBP, CATSA, and Air Canada and while that isn't the root cause for any issue it amplifies it because no one can proactively come up with solutions.

In conversations with AC SDs on my recent flights, they all seem to be wanting to avoid YYZ because of the ongoing issues. To steer this back on topic, AC is aware of the ongoing challenges of the airport, they're happening every day and have been for months, but seems to show no foresight in planning solutions like forcing longer MCTs, having more staff on hand to deal with problems, improving communication with other parties, increasing turn times for planes inbound from international destinations. These all feel like solvable problems to me that would proactively prevent some of the cascading issues.


After yesterday I will try to avoid that airport at all costs for the foreseeable future.

yeeg

I didnt realize YYZ could handle a million flights in a short period of time. Quite impressive

Duff76

I’m navigating this disaster zone in a couple of weeks. Jeepers.

mahasamatman

Whenever I see an article that starts with "former NHL player" (or something similar), my only thought is that here's another washed-out guy with no life who's desprrate for attention. It guarantees that I will side with the target - in this case AC and YYZ. I don't even need to read further.

respectable_man

Line for irrops yesterday @YYZ around 7pm.

Yhztraveller

This is why I will do everything reasonable to maintain SE status. 75k stands in line, 100k is in the lounge already rebooked by concierge....
Booking my June TATL through YUL!!!!

Stranger

Ditto.

Booked my next Europe trips either direct via FRA, or through YUL.

HerpaYvr

The issues at YYZ are all over the news for weeks now, the federal government decided to extend its mandate until June 30th. I have been avoiding YYZ for two months now after returning from KON-LAX-YYZ-YOW. I now fly through YUL or just through YYC/YVR. Started flying out of OGD again which is the same distance to me as YOW but faster and cheaper.

Bohemian1

Seriously? Utah is close to Ottawa now?

seegs

So if fed gov finally ends the testing and arrive can after June 30th, do you really imagine the delays ending? Like folks said above, the issues go well beyond this and it’s here to stay until staffing levels exponentially increase and management takes it seriously.

mapleg

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Hmm....I guess math is not his strong point.