Long lines, short-staffed: Passengers voice frustrations as Calgary airport gears back up
WestJet official says airline is working hard to catch up
The route to recovery for the Calgary International Airport appears to be off to a bumpy start, with passengers complaining about long lineups, extended waits for baggage and an apparent shortage of staff.
Brayden Snow was travelling to Vancouver on Thursday for a vacation. He said it appeared there were not enough people working.
"We waited in the security line for over an hour. By the time we got in, there were people rushing, missing their flights," Snow said. "A lot of unhappy customers."
Shannon Anderson said she had heard from friends that lineups were "out of control" and to leave for the airport early.
Happy to be flying again but what’s up with the Calgary airport & not having sufficient ground crew? Delayed flights and cancelled flights all over the place ✈️ <a href="https://twitter.com/FlyYYC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FlyYYC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WestJet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WestJet</a>
—@kkoeyk<a href="https://twitter.com/WestJet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WestJet</a> need to hire more people back. Delays and ground handling staffing issues. Your loyal customers that fly often are getting frustrated out here. Complaints are going to start piling up.
—@ianroberts_YYC"Coming around the corner, with the renovations in the airport, to see this extra long lineup of bodies waiting to go through airport security," she said. "It became, at a certain point, a little bit like the Wild West."
'We're working to fix that'
Richard Bertram, WestJet's vice-president of communications, said every airline is having issues getting back to speed as COVID restrictions are lifted.
The Calgary-based airline had about 14,000 employees on staff before the coronavirus outbreak. That dipped to 4,000 in December 2020.
Bertram said the airline hopes to have 9,000 people trained up by the end of the year.
"We're a little bit short-staffed. We have been working through that very quickly and it's coming along," Bertram said.
"We are working hard to catch up."
Bertram said delays at the airport are the result of the pent-up demand of people seeking a return to travel.
"We did our best to time it right," he said. "And we were a little bit off in the timing, and we're working to fix that."
In April, the Calgary Airport Authority said the pandemic had plunged the authority into debt and erased a quarter century of passenger growth, adding it would likely take up to five years to recover.
The road is expected to be a long one, even with recent developments like Canada allowing fully vaccinated Americans to enter the country and skip the 14-day quarantine period.
Snow said he can't recall a time he's ever seen the Calgary airport this busy.
"We managed to get through and get everything taken care of," he said.
"But … definitely a little bit of extra stress, seeing that ginormous line stretching pretty much down the entire airport."
With files from Rick Donkers.