GTAA thanks federal government for progress on reducing airport delays

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) thanks the federal government and Ministers Alghabra, Duclos, Mendicino and Boissonnault for their commitment to reduce delays for arriving and departing passengers at Canada’s hub airports, and for the progress that has been achieved. Their response to our request for the addition of more Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers is making a difference.

The recognition that more work is required by the government to address international arrivals is also welcome. In a few days, international passenger numbers are set to increase by 50 per cent. In anticipation of a new wave of business and family travellers we urge the government to act immediately to temporarily pause random testing on arrival in airports for an immediate improvement until upgrades to the government’s ArriveCan app have been made.

In May 2022, 2,700 arriving flights were affected by metering or holding, affecting the travel plans of over 490,000 international arriving passengers. Travellers are being further delayed because of the time it takes to select passengers for random testing.

The GTAA is collaborating with the government on concrete solutions and is taking every conceivable step to ensure the airport is ready this summer. This includes deploying more staff to aid in the processes that have been introduced during the pandemic, with CBSA adding more kiosks in the Canada Customs Hall, and hiring additional staff. 

“The stakes have never been higher, and the world is watching,” said Deborah Flint, President and Chief Executive Officer, GTAA. “We’re thankful for the steps that the federal government has taken and their recognition that more needs to be done. This is about much more than Toronto Pearson; it’s about global perceptions of our country and the risk that Canada will lose billions of dollars from tourism and business activities if travellers decide that coming to Canada this summer simply isn’t worth the hassle.”

“Toronto Pearson‘s challenges are unique simply due to scale by virtue of the fact that we are Canada’s largest airport and global hub for connectivity all over the world, with much higher volumes of passengers and, importantly, more international passengers than any other Canadian airport,” added Flint. “We are committed to collaborating with all partners to implement concrete solutions.”