Holiday season at airports | Chaos, take two?

After a summer marked by chaos at airports, it’s best to avoid being latecomers if you plan to fly abroad during the holidays. Caution is advised as airports expect to return to pre-pandemic levels of traffic in the coming weeks.

Arrive at the airport at least three hours in advance, regardless of your destination? That may sound like a stretch, but the suggestion isn’t far-fetched, said Robert Kokonis, president of consulting firm AirTrav.

“There are still a lot of people who have not traveled since the start of the pandemic, so this can slow down the process, explains the expert. Arrive early, go through security checkpoints, settle in and relax. It’s not a bad idea. »

Airports, travel agencies, government agencies and airlines agree that it is better to arrive too early than late. All industry players have done their part to minimize the risks of seemingly endless queues, missed connecting flights and poor baggage management.

However, an increase in traffic combined with a “labour shortage that has not been resolved in recent months” is likely to lengthen waiting times during peak periods, admits Aéroports de Montreal (ADM). In return, the health restrictions should make it easier for travelers.

At Montréal-Trudeau, the volume of passengers for the last month of the year should hover around 1.5 million people, a level comparable to that of 2019, before the appearance of COVID-19.

“Most of the staff are back and the employees are better trained,” said Mr. Kokonis. There are a few busy days during the holidays, but it’s not like the summer season. The portrait is less gloomy. »

Fall recovery

After a difficult summer, the situation has resolved at Montreal-Trudeau and Toronto (Pearson). During the months of September, October and November, flight cancellation rates were 1.7% and 1.8%, respectively, according to data compiled by FlightAware.

“This summer, the machine was rusty after two years of pandemic, says Moscow Côté, president of the Association of Travel Agents of Quebec. It’s better run. No one has reported any major issues to me for two months. There are always lost suitcases, but it’s not like summer anymore. »

Despite the recovery noted at Montreal-Trudeau and Pearson in terms of cancellations, there is a shadow in the picture.

The averages are above what is considered the problematic rate (1%) in the United States by FlightAware. According to the firm, this is the level where passengers who miss their flights begin to impede fluidity in airports. The president of AirTrav, however, believes that the fall performance of the two major Canadian airports is “reasonable”.

This question was invited to the Summit on the recovery of the air sector organized by Ottawa on November 24. In an interview with The Canadian Press, federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra pointed out that the workforce had “mostly returned to the level observed in 2019”, but that “problems related to training delays” persisted.

“It takes some time to train an employee in the industry,” he conceded.

A taste?

In the United States, Thanksgiving weekend – the busiest time of year at airports – is a reminder of what can happen when passenger volumes increase. More than 4,200 flights had been delayed by the end of November south of the border and several hundred had been cancelled.

The context will be different during the holidays. Since there is a certain balance between transatlantic flights and those to sun destinations, peak periods are “better distributed”, underlines ADM.

Pointed out last summer, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), which checks travelers before they leave, claims to have sufficient staff at Montreal-Trudeau. Invited by The Press to specify the size of its workforce, the federal agency had not responded on Tuesday.

Last June, CATSA said it was looking for at least 170 additional officers. It was not possible to know if this objective had been achieved.