Holiday Air Travel Disruptions
LOCATION: Air - National
ISSUE: During the 2022 Holiday season, air travel and passenger rail travel was disrupted due to extreme weather. A companion Public Information Card for rail impact titled VIA Rail Underlying Equipment and Service Pressures is included in this Parliamentary appearance package.
DATE: March 15, 2023
Suggested Responses
- While disruption was inevitable given the unique weather conditions occurring during a particularly busy travel period, the events over the 2022 holiday season highlight important challenges in Canada’s air transport sector as it continues to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.
- The Department is working with key stakeholders to improve processes for the treatment of passengers and to increase the resilience of our air transport system.
- In preparation for the March Break travel period, Transport Canada (TC) officials engaged all major sector players to ensure that operational plans are in place to mitigate the impact of travel disruptions for passengers.
- While extreme weather is outside of operators’ control, air carriers must always honour their obligations under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations.
If pressed on Sunwing’s Temporary Foreign Pilots
- Sunwing has, in the past, regularly used foreign-based crews through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to augment its capacity in the busy winter season.
- Each application for approval under this program requires a Labour Market Impact Assessment, which falls under the purview of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Any questions pertaining to this assessment should be directed to ESDC.
Background Information
- Given the unprecedented scale, severity, and duration of adverse weather across Canada over the busy holiday travel period, major travel disruptions were inevitable and unavoidable. Specific impacts during the period of December 20-27 include:
- Delayed flights peaked at 71% at Toronto-Pearson, 74% at Vancouver, and 75% at both Montréal-Trudeau and Calgary. Cancelled flights during the same period peaked at 37% in Toronto, 62% in Vancouver, 29% in Montréal and 31% in Calgary.
- On December 22, 2022, WestJet pre-emptively cancelled approximately 270 flights out of Ontario, Québec, and British Columbia.
- The Vancouver International Airport restricted inbound international flights for two days just before Christmas to clear its backlog.
- Sunwing’s operations suffered a major breakdown. On December 29, 2022, Sunwing reported that over 120 flights were delayed and approximately 36 flights cancelled, and approximately 31,000 passengers were severely impacted by the service disruptions.
- Delays, cancellations, and technical problems resulted in a major accumulation of baggage which is to be expected after a significant disruption.
- While many operations were quickly reinstated as the weather passed, Sunwing experienced particularly profound disruptions. These disruptions have drawn attention to the treatment of passengers during such situations and potential issues surrounding compliance with the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR). Approximately 31,000 travellers were seriously affected.
- The airline contracted five different airlines to help repatriate passengers from several destinations, but mechanical issues with some of these flights increased wait times further.
- Sunwing noted that it will pay compensation to passengers for flights that were delayed or ultimately cancelled due to reasons within a carrier’s control, such as crew-related reasons (e.g., not attributable to weather) and provided hotel accommodation and food for passengers delayed in destinations regardless of the cause for the delays.
Sunwing’s Application under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
- In response to Sunwing’s capacity challenges over the holiday season, the airline announced on December 29, 2022, the immediate cancellation of all flights out of Regina and Saskatoon until February 3, 2023, noting that its application under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) was denied.
- Sunwing has, in the past, regularly used foreign-based crews and aircraft to augment capacity in the busy winter season, while sending its own crews and aircraft to Europe under similar arrangements in the summer.
- Each application for approval under the TFWP requires a Labour Market Impact Assessment to demonstrate need for foreign workers to fill the job, and that no Canadian worker or permanent resident is available. This assessment falls under the purview of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and any questions pertaining to this assessment should be directed to ESDC.