Airport and Flight Delays

LOCATION: INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS IN CANADA

Issue/Source: VARIOUS MEDIA OUTLETS

Date: MAY 13, 2022

Suggested Responses

  • The delays at Canada’s International airports are due in part to a surging demand for travel, a reduced workforce in the air sector, and a more comprehensive entry process due to COVID.
  • Transport Canada is working closely with other government departments and industry to reduce the impact of these delays in advance of the summer peak season.
  • Transport Canada’s top priority is the safety, security and efficiency of Canada’s transportation system.

ON OUTBOUND (SECURITY SCREENING)

  • Transport Canada quickly convened government agencies and industry, including the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), creating an outbound screening committee to address bottlenecks occurring at pre-board security screening and pre-clearance departure checkpoints and to develop new approaches to dealing with these pressure points in the travel system.
  • CATSA has been working with its contractors to increase the number of screening officers at passenger screening checkpoints. Currently, there are approximately 400 additional screening officers in different phases of their training across the country who will be deployed between now and the end of June.
    • With Transport Canada’s support, these recruits will benefit from progressing more quickly through a more flexible onboarding process so they can be on the ground as quickly as possible. Airports are working to support CATSA with this initiative.
    • CATSA is very close to having recruited 100% of their target numbers of screening officers for the summer in many airports, including Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport.
    • CATSA has accelerated the use of pre-certified screening officers to carry out non-screening functions, to optimize resources, and to allow certified screening officers to focus their efforts on key security functions.
    • Airports, airlines, and other partners are communicating with CATSA daily to help them adjust scheduling to ensure screeners are available where and when they are needed to support busy travel times as air travel quickly recovers.
    • CATSA is currently studying best practices at airports to see where these processes can be applied to other airports to gain efficiencies.
  • While more remains to be done, these efforts are paying off through declining wait times for screening. Since the beginning of the month, the number of passengers waiting 30 minutes and more for outbound screening at our largest airports (Toronto Pearson International, Vancouver International, Montreal Trudeau International and Calgary International), has been halved across all four airports.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

  • The media has been reporting significant delays at CATSA screening checkpoints and at CBSA primary inspection lines.

Outbound (CATSA)

  • The problem primarily resides and Pearson and Vancouver airports, and to some extent in Calgary and Montreal, and during peak hours in the morning and afternoon. 
  • Many factors are contributing to delays at screening checkpoints including: labour shortages; processing challenges; insufficient exchange of information; and consolidation of airline schedules.
  • CATSA retained 75% of its workforce during the pandemic to assist with recovery. Screening contractors called back all available personnel in preparation for the summer peak.  Hiring efforts have been underway for some time and newly certified screening officers are joining their colleagues on active duty each week.  Screening contractors are now very close to 100% of their target numbers of screening officers for the summer in many airports, including Pearson and Vancouver.  Some of these are recent recruits, who will be progressively assuming greater levels of responsibility in the near future as they complete training. 
  • Transport Canada worked with CATSA and developed a plan to increase the number of screening officers at passenger screening checkpoints. A short-term exemption was issued to accelerate the hiring and training  of new screening officers without compromising security.
  • CATSA will restart the Trusted Traveller trial at the Vancouver airport in July. The same trial will take place in Toronto but a date has not yet been determined.
  • A broader initiative, in partnership with industry, is also underway to address the CATSA service level concerns in the short term.
  • Transport Canada created the Airport Operations Recovery Committee with participants from the largest airlines and airports as well as CATSA and Transport Canada to investigate causes and recommend solutions for addressing the wait time issue.  Meetings have already taken place and a number of solutions have already been implemented.  The Committee will continue for at least six months and will focus on better coordinating actions between government and industry partners, including the piloting of new or innovative approaches to address the ongoing operational and communications issues.
  • Wait times have been improving rapidly throughout May. Since the beginning of the month, the number of passengers waiting 30 minutes and more at our largest airports, Pearson, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary, has been halved across all four.  Those waiting 30-45 minutes have dropped by more than 50% at both Pearson and Vancouver.  Those waiting more than 45 minutes have dropped by over 60% at Pearson, although there has been a slight increase in Vancouver.
  • Also, since the end of April, the number of passengers waiting more than 15 minutes has dropped by 9.8% at Pearson and 21.2% at Vancouver.  In Calgary and Montreal, where wait times have not been as significant, these numbers have dropped by 0.5% and 2.3%, respectively, in the same time period.

Inbound

  • Regarding international arrivals, some air carriers have had to wait close to two hours before being able to deplane passengers on international flights. This is due to multiple factors including:
    • capacity issue in the terminal at GTAA to welcome all passengers, especially at peak time;
    • delays associated with the entry process (e.g. health questions, referrals, random arrival testing);
    • failure of some passengers to complete ArriveCAN prior to entry.

Transport Canada is working with PHAC and CBSA to map the inbound processes and  to find efficiencies to better manage the volumes.

FACT SHEET: Screening Delays at Major Airports

The Government of Canada is committed to keeping our transportation sector safe and secure – while ensuring the safe flow of travel and trade. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has worked closely with the transportation industry and other partners to implement a comprehensive set of measures to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and to help keep Canadians and travellers safe. These requirements have helped to protect our transportation system from the impacts of Omicron – and ensure supply chain resiliency – by reducing the frequency and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic amongst transportation workers.

Where the science and public health advice allows for the easing of measures, the Government has not hesitated to do so. As the Government has eased measures, travel volumes have increased significantly, and as the summer peak travel season approaches, travel volumes are expected to continue to increase. Increased travel volumes are an extremely positive sign for industry and economic recovery; however, they have also led to delays throughout the travel continuum.

There is a need to continue to keep travellers and the Canadian transportation system safe and secure, while supporting economic recovery. The two are not mutually exclusive. The right balance can be found by examining the tools that have deployed in the context of the pandemic and the continued risk calculus.

Wait time issues

Security screening (outbound passengers)

Wait times at the larger airports have grown significantly as passenger volumes have quickly increased over the past month. The primary challenges exist at Toronto-Pearson and Vancouver at Peak Time, with some issues in Calgary and Montreal as well. Current forecasts show this traffic growth will continue into the summer months so there is fear wait times could continue to worsen.  At security screening checkpoints, many factors are contributing to delays, including: labour shortages; processing challenges; insufficient exchange of information; and, consolidation of airline schedules, among others.  

Customs and health screening (inbound passengers)

On arrival, some air carriers have had to wait close to 2 hours before being able to deplane passengers on international flights. This is due to many factors including capacity issues in the terminal at GTAA to welcome all passengers, especially at peak time; delays associated with the entry process (e.g., health questions, referrals, random arrival testing); and, the failure of some passengers to complete ArriveCAN prior to entry.

Transport Canada’s response

In order to ensure the sustainability of the travel journey and to reduce delays, it is critical that Government, industry, and travellers do their part.

Throughout the pandemic, government Departments and Agencies, including the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency, have worked to identify efficiencies, streamline process, and reduce redundancies. These efforts have, over time, reduced processing time; however, the fact remains that the pandemic is not yet over, and a range of public safety measures remain in place, which is contributing to increased on-arrival processing times.

Transport Canada is working closely with other government departments and the air industry to support and enable the recovery of the air and tourism sectors and reduce the impact of these delays in advance of the summer peak season.

Security screening

Transport Canada created the Airport Operations Recovery Committee, with participants from the largest airlines and airports, as well as CATSA and Transport Canada, to investigate causes and recommend solutions for addressing the wait time issue.  Meetings have already taken place and a number of solutions have already been implemented, with a particular focus on rapidly augmenting the number of screening officers, streamlining screening processes, and improving communications and information-sharing among industry stakeholders, CATSA, and the public to reduce bottlenecks.  The Committee will continue for at least six months.

Specific action being taken in response to the airport delays include:

  • Transport Canada quickly convened government agencies and industry including the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), creating an outbound screening committee to address bottlenecks occurring at pre-board security screening and pre-clearance departure checkpoints and to develop new approaches to dealing with these pressure points in the travel system.
  • CATSA has been working with its contractors to increase the number of screening officers at passenger screening checkpoints. Currently, there are approximately 400 additional screening officers in different phases of their training across the country who will be deployed between now and the end of June.
    • With TC’s support, these recruits will benefit from progressing more quickly through a more flexible onboarding process so they can be on the ground as quickly as possible. Airports are working to support CATSA with this initiative.
    • CATSA is very close to having recruited 100% of their target numbers of screening officers for the summer in many airports, including Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport.
    • CATSA has accelerated the use of pre-certified screening officers to carry out non-screening functions, to optimize resources, and to allow certified screening officers to focus their efforts on key security functions.
    • Airports, airlines, and other partners are communicating with CATSA daily to help them adjust scheduling to ensure screeners are available where and when they are needed to support busy travel times as air travel quickly recovers.
    • CATSA is currently studying best practices at airports to see where these processes can be applied to other airports to gain efficiencies.

While more remains to be done, these efforts are paying off through declining wait times for screening.

Wait times have been improving rapidly throughout May.  Since the beginning of the month, the number of passengers waiting 30 minutes and more at our largest airports, Pearson, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary, has been halved across all four.  Those waiting 30-45 minutes have dropped by more than 50% at both Pearson and Vancouver.  Those waiting more than 45 minutes have dropped by over 60% at Pearson, although there has been a slight increase in Vancouver. Also, since the end of April, the number of passengers waiting more than 15 minutes has dropped by 9.8% at Pearson and 21.2% at Vancouver.  In Calgary and Montreal, where wait times have not been as significant, these numbers have dropped by 0.5% and 2.3%, respectively, in the same time period.

Customs and health screening

Transport Canada is working with Government and Industry to map, in detail, each step of the traveller journey – from ticket purchase to taxi stand. Based on the mapping exercise, the Government is working to identify efficiencies that can be gained throughout the travel journey, to improve throughput and the overall traveller journey.

The Government is seized with improving the overall travel experience and is committed to make sure that travellers who want to travel are able to and have a positive travel journey experience. The Government of Canada will continue to take clear and decisive actions to ensure the safety, security, and resiliency of Canada’s transportation system, its employees, and its users.

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