As the federal parliamentary Transport Committee emergency hearings into holiday travel chaos across Canada got underway 12JAN, the president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, Tamara Vrooman, issued a statement about YVR's performance in DEC - and listed steps she says the airport is undertaking to avoid operations catastrophes in future.
Vrooman noted that climate change is predicted to increase severe weather events, and "that the systems and processes our airport community has relied on for decades must be improved" to be prepared for ever more weather-related travel disruption.
Here is her full statement:
We recognize that this past holiday season was very hard on travellers, their friends, and families. Many people were looking forward to travelling again, particularly since this was the first December in three years where most travel restrictions were lifted.
We have seen that the systems and processes our airport community has relied on for decades must be improved given the realities our industry has experienced post-pandemic along with increasing climate-related weather events.
YVR is undertaking an enhanced after-action review that will bring together input from airlines, partners, suppliers, and employees. We have engaged KPMG and global aviation planning and advisory firm, Arup, to assist in this review.
YVR will also be engaging the travelling public to hear directly about their experiences and suggestions for improvement relating to information and support during the December travel disruption. Both processes will commence next week. Further information will be available on YVR.ca.
In addition, we have implemented initial measures to help ensure a similar situation does not occur while the review is ongoing. These measures include greater communication and coordination with airlines around gating, towing, and communication with passengers.
These initiatives and learnings will inform continued improvements at YVR and allow the airport to work across the aviation ecosystem to enhance the overall travel experience for passengers.
The pandemic was tough on aviation and travel. And the industry is still recovering from it. The 26,000 employees who work at YVR have been resilient, creative and empathetic throughout. All qualities on display recently and all qualities needed in the future.
