Constant air traffic outages at Newark Liberty International Airport might be making all the headlines these days, but the situation at home is also raising tempers.
Driving the news: During a 50-minute delay on Saturday, an Air Canada pilot flying from Vancouver to Montréal reached his limit and vented over the intercom about a deficit of air traffic controllers causing delays, urging passengers to write their MPs about the issue.
- "It's very annoying," the pilot said. "It's cost the company a lot of money. It costs business people a lot of money, and it would be great to have this addressed."
Big picture: Canadian airports have been facing controller shortages for years as travel demand has surged, and since Nav Canada — the private company in charge of Canada’s air traffic control system — laid off hundreds of workers during the pandemic.
- Vancouver International Airport has gotten the worst of it as of late, with staffing shortages leading to a rash of widespread flight delays last month.
- Nav Canada is trying to get numbers back up, claiming it has ~500 students currently in its training program and has issued ~40 licences in Vancouver over the past year.
Why it matters: With a ready-to-retire workforce, things could get worse before they get better for Nav Canada if it can’t bring in more fresh recruits. This could make Canada’s aviation system, which is arguably the worst in the G7 per some stats, even shakier.—QH