It seems like airports here are also facing increased problems this year in providing adequate funding for CATSA airport security screeners. Unless something changes, this situation could get worse through the summer travel season.....
Hopefully the authorities can find some money to get this sorted very soon!
oh gosh!! Here you are, following our bad example! I'm so sorry.
I do like how the article's editors had to go back to 2007 to find a photograph of a suitably long line though!! Maybe there is still hope.
I encouraged my brother and his family to fly via Canada this summer to come to Scotland and back from Paris. It's so wonderful to be able to go through U.S. immigration in Canada and avoid that mess on the way back into L.A.!!!
Canada, don't let me down! Since I moved to this far corner of New York state, I've used the Toronto airport primarily because the passenger flow is so much more efficient than Buffalo... and also because Toronto offers plenty of direct flight options to Europe.
This is why I enjoy flying out of Halifax - rarely have I spent more than 10 min in a security line - usually because our flights to London leave at 11:30 pm, so it's def the off part of the day. We still always arrive 2.5-3 hrs early, and after 15 min are sitting at the gate cooling our heels after breezing thru security and asking ourselves AGAIN - why didn't we just show up 2 hrs ahead?
On a brighter note, YVR has just become the first Canadian airport to offer a "Doggie WC" facility for those travelling with pets. I believe it's inside security in the U.S. departures area. Here's the story.....
https://www.biv.com/article/2016/6/yvr-becomes-first-major-canadian-airport-post-secu/
Nicole,
It's likely the larger airports (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal) may be more affected with the lack of screening staff than smaller airports, as they process a lot more passengers. At the present time, Halifax is the eighth busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, while my home airport (Kelowna) is 11th. I've found that certain times of the day can be busy but for the most part, the process seems to move along reasonably well.
Tom,
Hopefully those in charge will deal with problems before they become too serious. The last time I transited through Toronto about a year ago it was a miserable travel experience for several reasons, but I got a first hand look at the lack of screening staff. The security checkpoint was processing a large number of passengers from the flight I was on from Paris using only two agents. When I finally got to the end of the line, I asked the screener why they didn't have more people working for such a large volume of passengers. His answer was, "they've been laying-off staff lately". My reply was "what kind of an idiot would lay-off staff in the middle of peak tourist season". He just shrugged his shoulders. That wasn't the end of the problems, but I'll leave it at that. Hopefully YYZ gets their problems sorted. I'll be through there again in a couple of months, so we'll see?
The situation at Pearson is always hectic. It's the hub for overseas flights and always busy. We've even had it where they ask to see your passport right at the bridge where you get off the plane.
There are never enough people working at the security and with so many people not knowing the security "drill" ,there are always holdups. Just this month they changed the set up for so now you do Customs first and then security when leaving Canada.It's supposed to speed things up.We will see. The biggest problem are the lineups at the check in desks. People who haven't checked in or don't use the kiosks. It's a mess. We fly out of Buffalo whenever we can.
Perhaps my experiences at Pearson have been positive because I have a Nexus card?
carol,
"Hectic" would be a polite and mild term to describe my last visit to Pearson. At the time I had a different term in mind, a two word phrase often used by the military, with the first word being "cluster". I must have just been there on a particularly bad day.
Tom,
The problems I experienced would not have been solved with a Nexus card. Hopefully your good experiences at Pearson continue.
Tom, We also have a Nexus card so that's a plus but it's still hectic before you actually get into the Nexus only security line.
