​Delayed flights: Canada’s poor performance

The entire airline industry has been experiencing turbulence for several weeks, but Canada has been particularly hard hit. In June, four Canadian airlines found themselves among the world’s top airlines with the highest delay rates — with Air Canada in first place, according to FlightAware data obtained by The duty.

The summer season has got off to a flying start at airports, as major airlines around the world face logistical challenges and mounting flight delays: more than 33,000 flights delayed in June for Southwest Airlines, nearly 27,000 for American Airlines, just over 21,000 for Ryanair…

With some 8,400 flights delayed in June, Air Canada seems to be doing well. Except that it actually picks up the worst rate of delayed flights in the industry, since this number represents nearly 60% of its programming. On average, the delays were 62 minutes.

The other Canadian airlines do not really do better: the low-cost subsidiary Air Canada Rouge and Jazz Aviation, a Halifax-based company that provides regional service for Air Canada, respectively climbed to the top 3e and 7e world ranks of delays (with delayed flight rates of 53% and 51%). WestJet, a Canadian low-cost airline headquartered in Calgary, meanwhile snuck into the 9e place (with 49% of its flights delayed).

Responsible, but dependent

But how is it that companies in Canada find themselves at the top of the late rates? “They are partly responsible for what is happening, but they are also dependent on the lack of investment and obsolete Canadian airport infrastructure,” says Mehran Ebrahimi, professor at UQAM and director of the International Observatory of Aeronautics and of civil aviation.

Treadmills break down because the systems are outdated. […] It is not enough to put two or three chic boutiques for the airport to be modern. It requires investments of several billion dollars, just at the Montreal-Trudeau airport.

“It is difficult to determine who is responsible for the delays. If there are delays in checking baggage, is it Air Canada’s or the airport’s fault that there aren’t enough functioning conveyor belts available? raises the expert.

Montreal-Trudeau airport has not been sufficiently modernized, he explains in particular. “Treadmills break down because the systems are outdated. It would take investments to renovate them, but that hasn’t been done. It is not enough to put two or three chic boutiques for the airport to be modern. It requires investments of several billion dollars, just at the Montreal-Trudeau airport,” he points out.

Couldn’t we have prevented the current crisis? Couldn’t Canadian companies and airports have taken the necessary measures in anticipation of a higher volume of passengers this year? Last summer, when air traffic began to resume slowly, without being in full swing either, Air Canada was already suffering from a significant percentage of delays.

According to Mr. Ebrahimi, the Canadian government has not invested enough to support the industry, unlike other countries. “There are performance differences between airlines that come from countries where there has been more government support and those where there has been less,” he says.

“What we are seeing right now is the consequence of our inaction,” explains Mr. Ebrahimi. “If only we had had a plan for airports and companies to retain their employees, train them and modernize their facilities… Maybe we wouldn’t be here. »

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