Bad weather continues to delay flights, strand travellers

CTV Atlantic: Weather woes affecting travel plans Thousands of travellers are stranded in airports across Canada and the U.S. as bad weather continues to delay and cancel flights.

Thousands of travellers are stranded in airports across Canada and the U.S. as bad weather continues to delay and cancel flights.

The backlog at large airports such as Toronto’s Pearson International is creating a backlog at regional airports, such as Halifax Stanfield International, where hundreds have been left waiting.

“When Toronto has issues, the whole system has issues,” says Peter Spurway, a spokesperson for the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

“We have sleep mats. We have pillows. We have diapers. We have baby formula, cat food, dog food.”

The arrivals and departures board has been lit up with delays and cancellations for days at the Halifax airport and some passengers who have been lucky enough to make their flights are missing their luggage.

“I was supposed to fly out to Toronto on Friday. I got bumped because of the cancellations. Then I was booked for Toronto today at 8 a.m. Now I’m flying to Montreal at 10:30 and then to Toronto,” explained Gig Kemp, while waiting at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport on Tuesday.

“I’ve already had two cancelled flights, six or seven delays now, and I just found out I got one more delay,” said Cody Belec.

On the other end are those who can’t get home, such as Heather Hadley.

She and seven family members and friends were making their way back home to Halifax from Jamaica when they became stuck at an airport in Philadelphia.

“We arrived in Philadelphia Sunday past and our connection from Philadelphia to Halifax was cancelled,” she said.

Hadley and her crew are days late for work and school and are dressed for Jamaican weather.

“This is day three…we have no luggage. We’re out shopping for clothes.”

It took one couple at the Toronto Pearson International Airport ten hours to get to the front of the line from the back to rebook a flight with Air Canada.

But customers flying with all airlines are experiencing the same problems of long lines, delayed and cancelled flights and lost luggage.

“There’s no communication from baggage, email, or phone number,” said Brian Clare, who is flying with Porter and stuck in Toronto.

“That was the most difficult part, was trying to talk to somebody,” said Chad Dillman.

Some passengers say Porter left entire planeloads of luggage in Halifax.

“Instead of bags at the baggage carousel, there were two Porter reps and they basically told all of the people on the flight who were getting off in Montreal that their bags would not be arriving,” said Jeff Gosse, who is stranded in Halifax.

“There were definitely people on my flight that were really angry because they were on their way to other places,” said Dillman.

A representative for Porter Airlines told CTV News via email that the company does not have any new policies with respect to baggage.

Spurway says it’s difficult to say when the passenger backlog might finally be cleared up.

What to do if your flight is cancelled

If a flight is cancelled, airlines are supposed to put passengers on the next available flight, "but available means there's no one else sitting in that seat," travel expert Loren Christie told CTV's Canada AM Tuesday morning.

At a time of year when airports are very busy, this may mean waiting days for a flight. "It depends on the frequency of the route you're on. If you've only got one flight a day going to where you're going, chances are very, very slim," Christie said.

Major airlines like Air Canada may try bringing in a larger aircraft, but a larger plane still may not be able to hold all passengers looking to fly to the destination in question.

For the best chance of avoiding a cancelled flight, Christie recommended initially booking the first flight of the day, because often the plane will have landed the night before. He also suggested avoiding connecting flights and lay-overs whenever possible. If you can't avoid a transfer, try to choose a city as far south as possible where snow and freezing rain are less likely to affect travel.

If possible, travel with carry-on luggage only, to save time.

While travel insurance won't change the fact that your flight was delayed or cancelled, it can affect the amount of compensation.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant and CTVNews.ca