Stories of cancellations, delays and long lineups from P.E.I.-bound air travellers
CBC
An Island woman is not alone in advising anyone with summer travel plans to pack extra patience, and expect cancellations and delays at airports.
Sally Curtis recently returned from a trip to France with her teenage daughter, Nevaeh Murray.
On the way home, the pair faced four flight cancellations, a 10-hour delay in Paris, a six-hour delay in Toronto, and an eight-hour delay in Montreal.
"It kind of all becomes some sort of strange blur," said Curtis, who estimates the pair were awake for more than 40 hours trying to get from Nice, France, to Charlottetown.
"There was one point I didn't know what airport I was in."
Curtis said lineups for both security and customer service were hours long. And airports were packed and chaotic, due to all the cancelled and delayed flights.
"I saw a baby sleeping on the floor. You've got elderly people sleeping on the floor, sleeping on bins that they use for security, people making beds out of them," said Curtis.
Her daughter Nevaeh Murray said the hardest part was the uncertainty.
"It was just like the constant, like, rebook, cancel, rebook, cancel … it was like a never ending cycle," said Murray.
Other recent arrivals at Charlottetown's airport reported a range of travel experiences.
"It just seems to be the way the world is at the moment," said Mark Wilson, who said his flight from Toronto to Charlottetown was only slightly delayed — but last week, he dealt with three separate flight cancellations getting to and from the United States.
"Stay cool, be patient. Don't lose your mind. It is what it is. There's nothing else you can do right now," said Wilson.
Tania Sternberg said anyone planning to travel through Toronto Pearson International Airport, should give themselves about four hours to get from check-in to their flight, including long waits at security.
"The Toronto airport was an absolute nightmare," said Sternberg.