Winter Weather Suspends Holiday Travel
Photo Credit: Vancouver International Airport
Extreme weather caused a wave of flight cancellations at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) on Dec. 20 last year. According to airline tracking website Flightaware, that Tuesday was met with 200 flight cancellations and 67 delayed flights.
Cancellations resulted from the 25 cm of snow that blanketed parts of western B.C. overnight, along with cold Arctic winds and a low pressure system from the Pacific Ocean, Environment Canada stated.
Airport staff were put to work, clearing airfields and aircrafts in an attempt to get flights running. Despite their efforts, Duncan Dee, former chief operating officer for Air Canada warned that the chances of travellers reaching their destinations in time were very slim.
Throughout the holiday season, WestJet cancelled 1,640 flights, and Sunwing cancelled all flights from Vancouver between Dec. 22 and 25.
Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick explained that the cancellation of flights stretched beyond Vancouver. “An aircraft can be scheduled to fly from Toronto to Calgary to Vancouver and then to a southern destination in one day,” he said. “But if it is held up by weather anywhere, then it is late for its next flights.”
According to Canadian regulations, in the case of weather cancellations, anyone who isn’t placed on a flight within two days of their initial booking meets the criteria for a refund within 30 days. Alternatively, travel vouchers can also be provided. The regulations, which came into effect Sep. 8, build on federal rules from 2019.
Airlines are also required to provide updates for all passengers every 30 minutes until new flight plans are arranged.
In addition, airlines are obligated to provide food and drinks during waiting times. However, some activists have accused airlines of not complying with regualtions. “We have clear evidence now that the airlines failed to provide passengers with food and beverages in reasonable quantities, even though doing so would have been possible, this is a contravention of the law,” revealed Canadian passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs.
Passengers had reported being stuck at the airport, overnight stays sleeping on baggage, and waiting on the tarmac for up to 12 hours. Sunwing alone received 7,000 requests for refunds or compensation.
Photo Credit: Ben Nelms/CBC
Nakita Rees and Tom Wilson of Cambridge, Ontario struggled for four months to receive lost luggage. Although they detailed the location of their bags, the airport labelled it as lost.
Dee expressed that the problem was that YVR’s system cannot yet handle the use of air tracking technology, as was the case with Rees and Wilson.
"That's something where airline processes have not caught up to the technology that's available," he said. "No airline in the world has the ability right now to accept information from travellers,” he explained to CBC.
On Jan. 10, two independent firms were hired by YVR, KPMG and the Arup Group, to discuss an action plan for future weather disturbances. YVR has also opened a public engagement program for feedback and improvements.
Dee expressed that, "there's obviously a need for better infrastructure, better resources for airports … to make them more resilient to these weather events.” Sunwing president Len Corrado agreed, claiming that there was a need for more de-icing fluid. However, Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority insisted that at no point was there a shortage of de-icing fluid, and that airports had the equipment and resources to satisfy passenger needs. As well, Vrooman announced that YVR had plenty of food and beverages, but was never asked to provide these resources to passengers waiting on tarmacs.
"I think most people understand that weather disrupts, but what they need is information to make an informed decision,” Vrooman explained. “Should I hang out at the airport and wait, or should I go home because the flight is not delayed, it's actually cancelled, and it's not going to fly?"