The peak summer travel season is still going on.
There have been scenes at airports around the globe of long lines, flight cancellation and people searching for baggage this summer.
The photo was taken by Peter J. Thompson.
As summer travel season kicks into high gear, there are signs that the situation at Canada's busiest airports is getting better.
38 per cent of flights at Toronto Pearson International Airport and Montreal-Trudeau International Airport experienced holdups on Tuesday, making them the fourth and fifth most delayed airports in the world. Pearson and Trudeau were found to be the worst airports in the world for flight delays.
Most flights arrived and departed as scheduled on Wednesday at Pearson. There were no long lines at security or check in. Travelers still fear the worst when they arrive.
Kaltrina Haradainaj arrived with her family six hours early for their flight to Europe, anticipating that it would be much busier.
Other family and friends have said it was chaotic. Their flights were delayed.
The long weekend resulted in heavy delays for Canadian airlines at Pearson. Air Canada Rouge had the highest percentage of delayed flights at 58 per cent, followed by Air Canada at 54 per cent.
We’ve had other family and friends come this past weekend and said it was chaos
Traveller Kaltrina Haradainaj
Fifty percent of the flights were delayed on Sunday, according to the data.
Jazz Aviation's flight delays fell to 45 percent, while Air Canada's delays were at 50 percent.
Air Canada stated in a press release that the effects of COVID-19 had led to flight delays and challenges.
Air Canada chief executive Michael Rousseau said the path to recovery from a serious event is difficult.
Ryan White wouldn't comment on FlightAware's rankings, but provided the airport's own statistics showing improvements in on-time performance for most flights at Pearson.
White said that conditions at the airport have improved due to measures including working closely with airline partners after they voluntarily reviewed their summer schedules.
Staffing at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority and the Canada Border Services Agency has increased. A growing number of recent hires have completed the specialized training and can now process passengers on the airport floors.
White said that more and more of those agents are on-line.
Increased security staffing may not be enough to keep Pearson's on-time domestic and international flight performance in check.
The president of AirTrav said that nothing has changed.
A few people were hired for screening, but they also have people on vacation. You can't train people fast enough We are still at the peak of the season.
The email is rshelton@postmedia.
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