Flights delayed, cancelled in Winnipeg
Travellers stranded after Toronto airport cancels incoming flights due to weather
Cancelled flights in Toronto created long lineups and headache for travellers in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
Several people had the start of their holidays set back as they were forced to rearrange flights at Winnipeg's James A. Richardson International Airport.
Michael Ball tried to re-book his cancelled flight to Toronto — and on to St. Martin in the Caribbean — after arriving at the Winnipeg airport at 3:30 a.m.
By 8:30 a.m. he had only reached the counter to arrange a new way to get to St. Martin.
“It’s very frustrating,” he said. “But I’m just trying to let it go because there’s no use getting upset. There’s nothing we can do to change it.”
Ball had been planning the trip for the past two months, but now, it’s not likely he’ll make it to St. Martin until days after his hotel reservations have started.
"At this point, I just want to go somewhere so I'm willing to fly out of Calgary to Mexico or wherever I can go, really and try and salvage this vacation the best I can," he said.
Ball's woes were shared by travellers across Canada -- the main problem being a backlog of flights at Toronto's airport.
Extreme cold weather in Central Canada forced Toronto's Pearson International Airport to halt all flight landings until 10 a.m. ET, which caused a ripple effect across the country.
Dan MacIntyre was supposed to head to Sydney, N.S., for a family funeral but was told he wouldn't be flying out of Winnipeg at all on Tuesday.
He told CBC News he is trying to take it all in stride and as long as he can get there by Friday, he'd be happy.
He said he felt bad for all the people getting stressed out.
By Tuesday afternoon, things had calmed down substantially at Winnipeg's airport, but some travellers who were affected by the Toronto shutdown still remained.
Gavin Bond flew in from Ireland, hoping to make it to Regina. But after the closure, he had to stop in Winnipeg instead before he could get a connecting flight to the Saskatchewan city.
“It’s been eventful,” he said. “I was just going to go to the pub, but I haven’t slept that much, so two pints and I’ll be on the floor.”
As for those who have travel plans in the coming days, most of Canada is expected to return to seasonal temperatures by the weekend.