Toronto Pearson ranked world’s worst airport for current flight delays

A new report from one flight tracking website ranked Toronto Pearson International Airport as the world’s worst airport for delayed flights.

Using data accumulated by FlightAware from May 26 and July 19, the study concluded that Pearson saw 52.5 per cent of its flights delayed — the only location with more than half of flights impacted.

“The other week, we covered the worst airports in Europe right now, but now a new report has come out from flight tracking site FlightAware that reveals the worst airports for delays and cancellations in the entire world,” a spokesperson said.

Toronto Pearson was followed by Frankfurt in Germany (45.4 per cent) and Charles de Gaulle in Paris (43.2 per cent).

Full list: 

• Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada (52.5% of flights delayed)
• Frankfurt Airport, Germany (45.4%)
• Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, France (43.2%)
• Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands (41.5%)
• London Gatwick Airport, UK (41.1%)
• Heathrow Airport, UK (40.5%)
• Munich Airport, Germany (40.4%)
• Athens International Airport, Greece (37.9%)
• Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, Australia (34.2%)
• Orlando International Airport, U.S. (33.4%)

In that same report, FlightAware revealed that the worst offender for cancelled flights is Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport in China, which has seen 7.9 per cent of all flights cancelled in recent weeks.

Toronto Pearson ranked fourth-worst in cancelled flights.

• Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, China (7.9% of all flights cancelled)
• Newark Liberty International Airport, USA (7.4%)
• LaGuardia Airport, USA (7%)
• Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada (6.5%)
• Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Indonesia (6.2%)
• Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, Australia (5.9%)
• Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, China (5.2%)
• Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport, USA (5%)
• Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, China (4.6%)
• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands (3.9%)

As Canada’s largest airport hub, Toronto Pearson has been most affected by the problems. On some days, the airport has seen more than half of its flight departures delayed.

“We can all understand why they’re angry and frustrated. Your flight gets cancelled, and they tell you to call, and you wait on hold for six hours — and I’m not exaggerating,” Leslie Dias, director of airlines at Unifor, which represents 16,000 air transport workers, including 5,600 customer service and sales agents at Air Canada, said last week.

“To some extent, our people are broken. They’re upset, they’re often close to tears, and they’re exhausted. At all airlines, they’re being asked to work as many hours as they can possibly manage to work. And they feel helpless.”

Air travellers who test positive for COVID-19 following random arrival tests — which resumed in Canada on July 19 — will have to quarantine for 10 days even if the provinces they land in no longer require isolation due to the virus.

The situation at Canadian airports has remained chaotic since testing was put on hold, although several travellers arriving in Toronto said they had not faced issues despite bracing for problems.

On July 13, Toronto Pearson International Airport announced a new digital tool aimed at helping passengers navigate through the current strained air transportation system.

With files from The Canadian Press.