Air Canada AC-T canceled about 360 flights at Toronto Pearson Airport in the first seven days of June – nearly 10 percent of its schedule – amid staff shortages and an increase in passengers at Canada’s busiest airport. Flight cancellations are evenly distributed between arrival and departure, according to Cirium, the airline that provided the numbers to Globe and Mail. The recovery in demand for air travel has flooded government agencies conducting security, customs and immigration checks on passengers in Pearson and other major Canadian airports. The aviation industry says the shrinking workforce is unable to handle the increase in passengers, while still enforcing COVID-19-related rules. Vaccine orders for federal and airline employees have also reduced staff available, the industry says. Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for Air Canada, said the airline’s overall completion rate remained high, but staffing problems in government departments had affected operations. “In some cases, longer security and customs clearance times at airports and repeated air traffic control restrictions, especially on Pearson, have forced airlines to cancel flights,” Fitzpatrick said. Passengers complain that they are detained on parked planes before being allowed to disembark for customs clearance and that they wait a long time to check their luggage and pockets before boarding. As the summer travel season approaches, Monette Pasher, head of the Canadian Airports Council, said the government should ease bottlenecks by abandoning health checks and rules to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. These include vaccine requirements for passengers and staff and randomized trials for passengers, which take time to process and administer. “We want to make sure the problem does not get worse,” said Ms. Paser of Halifax. “It really slows down the system.” Canada’s Transport Minister Omar Algabra told reporters Wednesday that the government has taken steps to mitigate bottlenecks at airports, including the addition of 400 security guards. He hinted that more action would be taken, but declined to say what and when. Mr Alghabra pointed to the regular meetings of a stakeholder group made up of people representing airlines, airports, public health, security and customs. “We are, of course, discussing bottlenecks,” he said. “We have made some adjustments, more adjustments are being made.” In a statement, the government said: “Our efforts are having an impact – as security wait times continue to decline at all major airports. “While we see some issues at Toronto Pearson International Airport that we have raised with the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, the vast majority of airports across the country do not see such delays.” On June 6, the Canadian Aviation Safety Authority handled more than 131,000 passengers at Canada’s eight largest airports, up from 162,000 on the same day in 2019 and 17,000 a year ago. Crown is outsourcing the project to three private companies that have laid off employees due to the pandemic and are having difficulty replacing them. Similar problems are encountered by the Canadian Border Services and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which provide advance clearance at certain airports for travelers to the United States. As the pandemic subsides, the number of travelers is expected to increase by July, further burdening airport systems and frustrating passengers, Ms. Passer said. Lines, delays and cancellations have also plagued airports in London, the United Kingdom and Schiphol in Amsterdam. Dutch airline KLM has canceled dozens of flights to Schiphol to reduce congestion, which has been blamed for managing the airport. Less than two hours by car, Buffalo Niagara Intl Airport has long been an alternative to Toronto Pearson. The airport in western New York has seen a sharp rise in Canadians since April, said Pascal Cohen, senior director of aviation development, although it is impossible to say why. “Is it because of the Pearson congestion or is it because Canadians no longer need to take the COVID test to return to Canada?” said Mr. Cohen. About 33 percent of travelers who began their journey at Buffalo Airport in June were Canadians, according to survey terminals. That compares with 25 percent in June 2019, before the pandemic stopped most air travel, Cohen said. For all of 2019, 38 percent of the airport’s top travelers were Canadians. Even before the Pearson congestion problems, the airport was advertised to Canadians as a hub with smaller groups and less expensive fares and fares. There are no vaccine, mask or quarantine requirements for air travel within the United States. Nor do passengers flying within the US face customs control. Canadians and other non-US citizens entering the United States by land must prove that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, but do not need to have a negative test. “We are talking about two things: saving time, saving money,” Cohen said. In the United Kingdom, British Airways, EasyJet, Wizz Air and other carriers have canceled hundreds of flights at Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport. British Transport Secretary Grand Saps has reprimanded airlines for stopping selling unaffordable tickets. Heathrow Airport has warned that passengers may face another 18 months of travel breaks. John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow, said this week travelers will face another 18 months of chaos before the airline industry manages to hire enough people. With reference to Marieke Walsh