Ministers making moves to address long airport wait times

Wait times at Canadian airports continue to irk travellers, but the Government of Canada assures it is working with airports and air carriers to fix the problem.

A statement issued on Wednesday, June 8 by several ministers, including that of transport, health, public safety, tourism and finance said they are working with industry partners and created a task force to find solutions to address bottlenecks at pre-board security screening and pre-clearance departure checkpoints and customs halls.

“The Government of Canada recognizes the impact that significant wait times at some Canadian airports are having on travellers,” the statement reads. “We are working with airports, air carriers, baggage handlers, and other partners to implement solutions to reduce delays as we approach the summer peak season. The goal is to streamline services for inbound and outbound passengers, so Canadians can travel smoothly and safely as the sector recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Ministers say their efforts are already having an impact as wait times for security continue to decrease at all major airports.

“While we are seeing some issues at Toronto Pearson International Airport that we have raised with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, the vast majority of airports across the country are not seeing similar delays. Even then, thanks to the efforts of Pearson Airport, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), and air sector workers, only three per cent of all passengers at Pearson and Vancouver International Airport are now waiting more than 30 minutes in line.”

The number of CATSA screening officers has increased and is almost 100 per cent of summer targets at both Toronto and Vancouver’s airports, where wait times have been the highest, they say.

Hiring continues, with 644 new CATSA recruits in the four largest airports and 865 total across Canada.

Almost 2,000 applications for screening positions have been processed.

“We recognize that we have more work to do, particularly for international arrivals at our largest airports, and we will continue to work with all orders of governments and partners to reduce the delays in the travel system,” they added.

According to the CATSA website, wait times for queues at security screening are calculated through the scanning of boarding passes when a travellers enters the start of the queue, and once again before they start their individual screening process.

Wait times do not include chick ins for a flight or baggage drop off a the air carrier counter, the time a travellers and their carry-on baggage is to be processed through the screening process, the time needed to go through Customer for U.S. flights or the time needed to reach the boarding gate.

As of 7:40 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8, CATSA has a total wait time for the Ottawa International Airport of less than five minutes for Canada, International and U.S. bound flights.

However, during that same time period and day, wait times at Toronto’s Pearson can be up to 35 minutes.