Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says he will be holding a summit next week to address the upcoming holiday travel season.

“There are many lessons that we learned from this last summer, and I am hosting a summit next Thursday to discusses these lessons with airlines, airports and other stakeholders to ensure that everyone is prepared for the Christmas rush,” Alghabra said on CTV News Channel’s Power Play Thursday. “We cannot go back to what we saw last summer,” he added.

The summer saw airport delays with many Canadians deciding to travel for the first time since March 2020. Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport were both plagued with issues throughout the summer.

The minister told host Mike Le Couteur that his ministry is making sure both airlines and airports have enough staff ahead of the holiday travel season. That season is set to get underway in a month.

Alghabra says airports and airlines are currently operating at pre-pandemic performance levels.

“We’re making sure we do everything we can to be prepared for that busy Christmas season,” he said.

Alghabra discusses the holiday travel season in the video at the top of this article.