Vancouver International Airport is expecting its busiest summer ever, and it’s off to a rough start, following a weekend with major flight delays due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. There were more than two hundred flight delays over the weekend and dozens of cancellations, when crowds were travelling ahead of Canada Day. “Saturday (was) an incredibly frustrating day for passengers,” Stephen Smart, the airport’s head of communications told CTV News on Monday. “Incredibly frustrating day for our partners. Incredibly frustrating day for us.” The airport has pointed to what it calls resource restraints with air traffic controllers as the reason for the disruption. Some were unavailable to work with little-to-no notice during one of the airport’s busiest weekends, according to Smart. “NAV Canada had that last minute staffing issue come up, and as a result they had to dial back how many aircraft they could handle coming into YVR at any given hour,” Smart said. The frustration is also being felt by airlines. “Canadians deserve consistent accountability and service standards across the entire aviation eco-system,” a statement from WestJet said adding that the airline is “calling on the federal government to work with all stakeholders to find an immediate solution to support the structural challenges that NAV Canada is facing.” Air Canada also shared its concerns. “The issue seriously affects passengers not only flying to/from YVR, but across Air Canada’s network, as knock-on effects from aircraft and crews which are delayed in YVR can then be delayed at other airports downline,” a statement from the airline said. “We are engaged in dialogue with NAV Canada and expect solutions that will allow the country’s air transport ecosystem to operate smoothly and meet Canadians’ and global passengers’ travel expectations going forward.” NAV Canada said it is dealing with staff shortages and regrets the impact delays is having on travellers. “Our team is doing everything it can to ensure aircraft are moving, first and foremost safely, but also efficiently and we regret any impacts to the flying public,” said Jonathan Bagg with NAV Canada. By Monday, operations were mostly back to normal, in time for what the airport anticipated would be the busiest day of a quasi-long weekend. But with a busy travel season ahead – some have concerns further turbulence could be ahead.
