(Calgary) As elsewhere in the world, Canadian travelers have had to contend with flight delays and cancellations in recent days. However, unlike in the United States and Europe, the main cause of these cancellations would not be COVID-19, but the cold weather.
This was claimed by major Canadian air carriers, which canceled hundreds of flights between December 22 and December 26.
According to airline data firm Cirium, Flair Airlines has canceled 9% of its scheduled flights for this period, while WestJet has grounded 7% of its scheduled departures.
On the Air Canada side, 4% of flights were canceled.
The holiday season also brought its share of cancellations among US carriers. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines explained that they were unable to take off certain aircraft due to a lack of personnel linked to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
But north of the border, the weather is the cause of this wave of cancellations. The cold weather and the heavy snowfall in the west of the country would have prevented several planes from taking off.
The past few days have been among the busiest since the start of the pandemic. We welcomed almost 50,000 travelers per day on nearly 500 flights.
WestJet spokesperson Morgan Bell in an email
“We are not experiencing the same problems as in the United States. Most of our cancellations are related to bad weather conditions. ”
Frigid temperatures and arctic air are chilling most of the western provinces this week, with wind chills dropping down to -55 ° C.
Environment Canada has indicated that all of Alberta, most of British Columbia, and parts of Manitoba and Ontario are subject to extreme cold warnings.
Air Canada, which grounded 171 flights between Dec. 22 and Dec. 26, said the weather was the main cause of the cancellation.
“We have the necessary manpower to meet our schedule, because COVID-19 has not affected us as much as some other carriers,” the company confirmed in a statement.
Porter Airlines spokesman Brad Cicero said the company’s operations went smoothly last week, but admitted some planes were unable to take off due to understaffing.
Flair Airlines has also seen an increase in the number of sick leave absences requested by its employees, but the carrier noted that such an increase occurs every year.
“Right now our biggest problem, which is probably the same for all businesses, is that fluctuations in demand during the pandemic caused a shortage of manpower on the ground and at airports,” said Flair Airlines vice president of operations Matthew Kunz.
On the Air Transat side, “no cancellations” are expected due to a lack of personnel linked to the Omicron variant at present, assured spokesperson Pierre Tessier. No flights were grounded for this reason, Tessier added.
Several Canadian air carriers have noticed that travelers have canceled their travel plans due to the increased number of COVID-19 cases, but continue to receive new bookings.
The federal government is requiring employees of Canadian airlines, as well as passengers departing from Canadian airports, to be fully immunized against COVID-19.
With information from the Associated Press