Winter weather and capacity limits at Toronto Pearson airport factor into spring break travel

Winter weather and changes at Canada’s largest airport are playing a role during the busiest spring break travel period in years.

“It’s been all hands on deck making sure it’s as smooth as a March Break and winter charter season as possible,” said Courtney Burns, president and CEO of Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport.

This is the first spring break without COVID-19 related travel measures since the pandemic was declared on March 11, 2020. 

Many spring break plans were cancelled in the weeks before lockdowns began in March 2020.  

The Canadian federal government ended all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions on Oct. 1, 2022. 

There’s anticipation for a busy spring break travel period this year following a strong rebound in travel in the later half of 2022.

Halifax Stanfield International Airport reported a 189 per cent increase in passenger numbers last year, with 3,107,425 passengers.

Storms have already caused delays and cancellations at airports this spring break, similar to last December during the pre-Christmas travel rush. 

Another challenge this past winter break was the “baggage backlog”  at Toronto Pearson International Airport, ending a year when the airport was named the world’s worst for delays. 

Pearson is a primary airline hub for Maritime airports.

The Greater Toronto Airport Authority announced new protocols this March Break to flatten peak-hour schedules.

The airport is putting limits on how many commercial flights can arrive or depart in any given hour, as well as capping how many passengers can arrive internationally or depart to the United States through each terminal in any given hour. 

“They’re trying to spread out the number of departures and arrivals over the day,” said Steven Tufts, spokesperson for the Toronto Airport Workers’ Council, during an interview with CTV’s Your Morning.

“The idea is you limit the slots that airlines can have in certain high travel periods,” he said.  

Some passengers travelling through Pearson are reporting their flights being moved to earlier times, some by as much as a day, in the aftermath of these changes.

Tufts said it’s unclear at the moment, what if any, compensation airlines would have to provide because of these changes under new federal passenger regulations, which were updated last September.