Air Canada is reassuring Canada's travel trade and pax following reports, including in Open Jaw, that Toronto Pearson has capped flights and passengers during peak March Break and summer travel times.
As Open Jaw reported 27FEB, Canada’s largest airport is limiting the number of passenger flights that will be allowed to take off and land during this year’s busiest spring break and summer travel times.
The GTAA told Reuters that, in addition to limiting flights, it’s also capping the number of international arrivals - and pax departing to the U.S. - on an hourly basis at YYZ, explaining, "The GTAA has taken decisive measures designed to flatten peak-hour schedules for the March break and the upcoming summer season."
Last summer during notorious operational meltdowns, other international airports - including two airport titans LHR and AMS - instituted caps in response, which sent airlines scrambling to adjust schedules, and had a snowball effect on travellers in 2022.
Alleviating concerns about such a last-minute impact on customers and the travel trade may be the reason that Canada's largest airline issued a statement 28FEB, when reports of the YYZ caps spread.
Air Canada reiterated its earlier comment to Reuters - also reported by Open Jaw - that the airline had been advised of the GTAA's plans last AUG, and taken those caps into account, saying "it designed its 2023 winter schedule with these limitations taken into account and anticipates no significant changes to its schedule for the March Break travel period. It subsequently received information about GTAA's plans for summer 2023 and similarly designed this coming summer's schedule to meet those parameters."
As for other airlines, as Open Jaw reported in its original article on 27FEB, WestJet told Reuters the limits "have created hurdles and required adjustments when planning our transborder and international flying."
The March Break and Summer 2023 caps by the GTAA are not entirely new: YYZ had already been limiting transborder flights “for several months” due to what it calls “staffing levels” of border agents and air traffic controllers.
