The House of Commons Transport Committee will investigate long airport delays and carrier flight cancellations.
Committee members held an emergency, virtual meeting Monday afternoon and voted unanimously to address the delays and cancellations. The committee will notably summon the federal Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, and will hold its first hearing by the end of next week.
Airlines and airports have grappled with an increase in travel this summer, compounded by staff shortages that affect both carriers and federal agencies that deal with security and customs, among other things.
This particular alignment of factors has led to the cancellation of many flights, delays in baggage claim and long queues at airport terminals. Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, the busiest in the country, was also the hardest hit by these troubles.
John Gradek, director of the aviation management program at McGill University, says airlines have dramatically increased their flight offerings as demand picks up, but have been unaware of their own labor shortages to meet them.
Airlines had laid off workers at the start of the pandemic, and then struggled to rehire enough employees to meet demand.
According to Professor Gradek, the airlines wanted to quickly take advantage of the windfall without really understanding what the impact would be on the capacity of the infrastructure and airport ecosystems in the country.
If airports could have slowed down
Gradek believes Canadian airports are also somewhat to blame for the delays because they were unable to limit the number of flights that would fit their capacity — in part because they lack the power to order carriers to reduce the number of their flights.
Last week, the CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority said there are now fewer delays. But she made no specific commitments and would not predict when wait times might be reduced in the future.
Other airports around the world have forced airlines to reduce the number of their flights. Britain’s Heathrow Airport has ordered airlines to stop selling tickets for flights this summer, and has imposed a cap on the number of passengers per day.
Airlines do not want to reduce their offer, so as not to lose their market share.
“Airlines do not want to reduce their offer, so as not to lose their market share”, explains Professor Gradek. He is eager to see what the parliamentary committee will come up with to ensure airport disruption is limited next time around. Voluntary and amicable initiatives to solve the problem do not work, he said, so “we need some coercion”.
Air Canada announced in June that it would cut its supply in July and August by more than 15%, or more than 9,500 flights, due to a tense air transport system. Meanwhile, WestJet said it had “proactively” cut flights at Pearson, anticipating the summer hiccups.
Transport Canada, for its part, says that the federal government and the industry are working together to improve the situation, in particular by meeting with the various players, hiring staff and improving the “ArriveCAN” online application for health declaration.
Air Canada is also criticized for refusing to compensate passengers injured by canceled flights. The carrier argues that these cancellations are related to security issues, themselves due to staff shortages resulting from the pandemic. However, the airlines do not have to pay compensation if the flight is canceled for security reasons.