Montreal airport to 'likely' cancel flights, destinations amid summertime staffing shortage
Travellers flying out of the Montreal airport might be in for a shock this summer as airlines will likely need to cancel some flights — or destinations altogether.
"We're getting very close to that. We're having discussions, and it's likely the frequencies — the number of flights we'll have on a given destination — or destinations themselves," said Philippe Rainville, president and CEO of the Montreal-Trudeau Airport, on Wednesday.
The disruptions are due to a staffing shortage, meaning there aren't enough workers to load and unload planes. Rainville said this kind of service reduction has not happened in recent memory.
"It's very sensitive, obviously. We have people that have booked vacations, so the airlines will have to be extremely careful in how they manage that," he said.
At least one Canadian airline is already heeding the call to cut back. Air Canada said in a statement that it will start slashing flight schedules throughout July and August, even though the airline said it tried to anticipate the surge by "careful planning" and "the largest and fastest scale of hiring in our history."
In a statement Wednesday, Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau said the national flag carrier is struggling to keep up with the "unprecedented and unforeseen strains on all aspects of the global aviation system."
Rousseau said it "will result in additional flight cancellations."
"But doing this in advance allows affected customers to take time to make other arrangements in an orderly manner, rather than have their travel disrupted shortly before or during their journey, with few alternatives available."
It couldn't have come at a worse time for those hoping to travel again after two years of a pandemic. Airports across the country, including Montreal, are facing long lineups, lost luggage, and little patience from travellers.
Recent data shows 51 per cent of all flights in and out of Canada's major airports were cancelled or delayed between June 22 and 27. The data from DataWazo, a data strategy agency based in Fredericton, N.B., stated the worst-hit airport was Toronto, with 11 per cent of flights during that same period being cancelled and 52 per cent of flights being delayed.
Jacques Bernier looks for his bicycle among a pile of unclaimed baggage at Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport, in Montreal, Wednesday, June 29, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
'I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BAGS'
CTV saw firsthand the frustration some are dealing with in Montreal, the country's fourth-busiest airport.
"I spent almost two hours in the baggage lineup downstairs so we could go to a hotel, only to find out the bags hadn't even been put on the plane," said one traveller on Wednesday.
"I have no idea what happened to the bags," said another amid the chaos in the airport.
Rainville said some flights filled with passengers are coming in with no luggage, only for suitcases and baggage to arrive the next day. Then, it all has to be re-dispatched.
While the waits are long at the airport, travellers say information from staff is also in short supply.
"Nobody was saying anything, nobody said, 'Hey, come stand in this line. We're going to get you through.' It was like nobody worked here," said one passenger.
The federal government said it has hired more border agents to try to ease the bottleneck in the most affected Canadian airports.
"We're seeing the surge in demand [for travel] outpacing the ability of airlines and airports to enhance the resources they need to accommodate that surge," said federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra.
Air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs says airlines should have better anticipated the surge after COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted.
LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: What should you expect at the airport?
"They have sold way more tickets to way more passengers than the system was able to support and handle at this point and this was predictable," he said.
The shortage of workers appears to be across the board. Documents presented to Parliament and reviewed by CTV National News show that the number of employees working at airports for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) has not yet caught up with pre-pandemic levels.
Long lineups at passport offices in Montreal in recent weeks have only caused further headaches heading into the summer travel season.
With files from CTV National News reporter Annie Bergeron-Oliver
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Thanks to wildfires, air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.