Weak on-time record of Canadian airports, airlines raises questions for summer travel
BNN Bloomberg
Canadian airports and airlines logged a large number of flight delays last month, raising questions about their readiness for the summer travel rush.
Big airports and carriers had a much weaker on-time record in March than comparable U.S. outfits — and their own performance in 2019 — according to figures from aviation data firm OAG.
Toronto's Pearson airport saw 61.2 per cent of flights leave on time — within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure — versus 73 per cent four years earlier. By comparison, New York's JFK airport and Chicago's O'Hare airport had on-time performances of about 73 per cent and 79 per cent, respectively — within a couple percentage points of O'Hare's 2019 rate, indicative of American airports' quicker earlier recovery.
Air Canada's on-time arrival rate was 57.3 per cent in March versus 69.6 per cent in March 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic upended the air travel industry. The latest number also contrasts to the 77-to-79 per cent range for three of the biggest U.S. carriers, though they generally face smoother weather conditions.
