Deborah Flint, chief executive of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), urged hundreds of airport and airline staff to “please keep their hearts” as they “continue to work to meet the challenges.” “For every passenger many of you see who may be expressing frustration in front of you, or perhaps doing so on social media, there is another group of more passengers who have nothing but gratitude for everything you and your colleagues do. your. Said Flint, applauding at the staff event. Her speech, which was heard from a public area of ​​the airport, followed two months of problems at Toronto airport, where many passengers faced flight delays, cancellations and long hours of security congestion. The GTAA, which manages the airport, and the airlines have blamed a lack of personal security controls, ongoing federal COVID-19 restrictions and restrictions on air travel. A man walks in front of a screen showing flight information at Pearson on Thursday. (Esteban Eduardo Cuevas Gonzalez / CBC) “There is an expectation that we can just spin the wheel and do things as they were before the pandemic,” Flint said. But “the journey today is not as it was before.” Her comments came three days after former NHL player Ryan Whitney crystallized the frustration of many travelers, targeting both Pearson (“the worst place on earth”) and Air Canada on Twitter following the cancellation of his flight to Boston. I live at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The worst place on earth. I smell so bad. pic.twitter.com/PfdnHcO7Ad – @ ryanwhitney6 GTAA Chief Operating Officer Craig Bradbrook told CBC News that it was “heartbreaking” to read travelers’ posts about missed flights for their holidays and family reunions. “We do not want an airport to operate like this; it is not the level of service we aspire to offer as an airport to the traveling public,” he said. “A lot of effort has been made in recent weeks, and we are seeing improvements and waiting times are decreasing. There is still a lot of work to be done, obviously, but we are moving in the right direction.”

‘Fast’ and ‘calm’

International travelers who arrived at Pearson on Thursday told CBC News that it took them just a few minutes to get through customs and pick up their luggage. Meenu Salvan, who traveled from New York for a wedding, described her arrival as “very calm”. “I’ve visited worse airports, so you’re fine with that,” he said. But others who followed the advice of airport officials to arrive too early for their flights ran into other problems. A woman checks her phone after arriving at Pearson on Thursday. The Canadian Border Service has urged travelers to complete the ArriveCAN form before flying to Canada to avoid delays. (Esteban Eduardo Cuevas Gonzalez / CBC) Nathan Sterbak arrived at the airport late Thursday morning, four hours before his flight to Edmonton. “They recommended three, but my job was just around the corner and I thought I could wait here,” he said. He then discovered that the luggage check-in would not open for another 40 minutes – so he had to wait a little longer to get through security. A man takes a COVID-19 test at the airport on February 1, 2021. About 2,000 travelers are randomly selected for mandatory Pearson tests each day. (Evan Mitsui / CBC) Dina Sowers was randomly selected for a mandatory COVID test after flying from Miami with her husband and father-in-law to visit Niagara Falls. The process was “very smooth” but added an unwanted delay to their trip, Sowers said. “I just want to get in the car and go; but I understand the security behind it.” About 2,000 passengers are randomly selected each day from approximately 35,000 arrivals at Pearson. GTAA and airlines are urging the federal government to end randomized testing from the beginning of this year. “It continues to be very challenging,” Bradbrook said, adding that after months of discussions with the federal government, “arrangements are being made” to move the tests out of the airport to reduce congestion. Other travelers were confused about the COVID-19 test requirements prior to departure, and some said they found the ArriveCAN application difficult to use. “We’re senior citizens, so we’re not technicians… It’s a bit overwhelming,” said Craig Metcalfe, who was traveling with his wife from Williamsburg, W. People check in at Pearson on May 12th. The Greater Toronto Airport Authority has repeatedly called on the federal government to step up airport security and abolish pandemic travel measures, which it says are causing delays. (Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press) Airlines are also calling on the federal government to lift further restrictions on the pandemic, including the abolition of vaccine orders for airline workers – a move they say will help boost aviation workforce to speed up airfield processing. . “We remain extremely concerned about the state of services provided by government agencies at our air borders and security checkpoints,” WestJet said in a statement, calling Pearson’s problems “unacceptable.” The federal government announced last month that it was rapidly training 400 new security officers to start working at airports by the end of June, and that it would add more border service kiosks to Pearson. In a statement Thursday, a spokesman for Canada’s Border Patrol said airport handling times were exacerbated by multiple simultaneous flights and travelers who had not completed ArriveCAN forms before arriving at the arrivals hall. “The CBSA will not endanger the health and safety of Canadians for the sake of waiting time at the border.”


title: “Toronto Airport Boss Tries To Gather Staff Amid Ongoing Unrest " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-06” author: “Bobbie Ronca”


Deborah Flint, chief executive of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), urged hundreds of airport and airline staff to “please keep their hearts” as they “continue to work to meet the challenges.” “For every passenger many of you see who may be expressing frustration in front of you, or perhaps doing so on social media, there is another group of more passengers who have nothing but gratitude for everything you and your colleagues do. your. Said Flint, applauding at the staff event. Her speech, which was heard from a public area of ​​the airport, followed two months of problems at Toronto airport, where many passengers faced flight delays, cancellations and long hours of security congestion. The GTAA, which manages the airport, and the airlines have blamed a lack of personal security controls, ongoing federal COVID-19 restrictions and restrictions on air travel. A man walks in front of a screen showing flight information at Pearson on Thursday. (Esteban Eduardo Cuevas Gonzalez / CBC) “There is an expectation that we can just spin the wheel and do things as they were before the pandemic,” Flint said. But “the journey today is not as it was before.” Her comments came three days after former NHL player Ryan Whitney crystallized the frustration of many travelers, targeting both Pearson (“the worst place on earth”) and Air Canada on Twitter following the cancellation of his flight to Boston. I live at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The worst place on earth. I smell so bad. pic.twitter.com/PfdnHcO7Ad – @ ryanwhitney6 GTAA Chief Operating Officer Craig Bradbrook told CBC News that it was “heartbreaking” to read travelers’ posts about missed flights for their holidays and family reunions. “We do not want an airport to operate like this; it is not the level of service we aspire to offer as an airport to the traveling public,” he said. “A lot of effort has been made in recent weeks, and we are seeing improvements and waiting times are decreasing. There is still a lot of work to be done, obviously, but we are moving in the right direction.”

‘Fast’ and ‘calm’

International travelers who arrived at Pearson on Thursday told CBC News that it took them just a few minutes to get through customs and pick up their luggage. Meenu Salvan, who traveled from New York for a wedding, described her arrival as “very calm”. “I’ve visited worse airports, so you’re fine with that,” he said. But others who followed the advice of airport officials to arrive too early for their flights ran into other problems. A woman checks her phone after arriving at Pearson on Thursday. The Canadian Border Service has urged travelers to complete the ArriveCAN form before flying to Canada to avoid delays. (Esteban Eduardo Cuevas Gonzalez / CBC) Nathan Sterbak arrived at the airport late Thursday morning, four hours before his flight to Edmonton. “They recommended three, but my job was just around the corner and I thought I could wait here,” he said. He then discovered that the luggage check-in would not open for another 40 minutes – so he had to wait a little longer to get through security. A man takes a COVID-19 test at the airport on February 1, 2021. About 2,000 travelers are randomly selected for mandatory Pearson tests each day. (Evan Mitsui / CBC) Dina Sowers was randomly selected for a mandatory COVID test after flying from Miami with her husband and father-in-law to visit Niagara Falls. The process was “very smooth” but added an unwanted delay to their trip, Sowers said. “I just want to get in the car and go; but I understand the security behind it.” About 2,000 passengers are randomly selected each day from approximately 35,000 arrivals at Pearson. GTAA and airlines are urging the federal government to end randomized testing from the beginning of this year. “It continues to be very challenging,” Bradbrook said, adding that after months of discussions with the federal government, “arrangements are being made” to move the tests out of the airport to reduce congestion. Other travelers were confused about the COVID-19 test requirements prior to departure, and some said they found the ArriveCAN application difficult to use. “We’re senior citizens, so we’re not technicians… It’s a bit overwhelming,” said Craig Metcalfe, who was traveling with his wife from Williamsburg, W. People check in at Pearson on May 12th. The Greater Toronto Airport Authority has repeatedly called on the federal government to step up airport security and abolish pandemic travel measures, which it says are causing delays. (Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press) Airlines are also calling on the federal government to lift further restrictions on the pandemic, including the abolition of vaccine orders for airline workers – a move they say will help boost aviation workforce to speed up airfield processing. . “We remain extremely concerned about the state of services provided by government agencies at our air borders and security checkpoints,” WestJet said in a statement, calling Pearson’s problems “unacceptable.” The federal government announced last month that it was rapidly training 400 new security officers to start working at airports by the end of June, and that it would add more border service kiosks to Pearson. In a statement Thursday, a spokesman for Canada’s Border Patrol said airport handling times were exacerbated by multiple simultaneous flights and travelers who had not completed ArriveCAN forms before arriving at the arrivals hall. “The CBSA will not endanger the health and safety of Canadians for the sake of waiting time at the border.”