Airports in Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie worry 'growing pains' will delay air travel rebound

Frustrations with flight delays and cancellations in Toronto are spilling over into the airports of northeastern Ontario.

Sault Ste. Marie airport CEO Terry Bos said they've had to explain the staffing shortages to several frustrated passengers.

"It doesn't start on our end, but we still have to deal with it," he said, describing the chaos in the industry right now as "growing pains" after downsizing during the pandemic. 

He said often the last flight of the night doesn't arrive in the Sault, which means the morning flight gets cancelled.

"The small airports in the north, we're ready to rock and roll. We'd love to see the passengers back," said Bos. 

"It's unfortunate that some are starting to talk about driving to Toronto because of the issues connecting through Toronto, but if the issue's Toronto, you're going to have that same issue whether you drive there or fly there."

He said the Sault Ste. Marie airport is only seeing "about half" of the flights it did pre-pandemic, although the ones that are taking off are "fairly full."

But the all-important business travellers have yet to fully return to the Sault and that's the same in Greater Sudbury, said director of marketing and airport development Jean-Mathieu Chenier.

"You kind of start to get a little more excited. You start to see a few more cars in the parking lot. You start to see a few more people coming through the terminal," he said, adding that friends and family picking up passengers were recently welcomed back into the airport for the first time in over two years.

Chenier said he does worry about the highly-publicized problems at Pearson prompting people to put off their travel plans for yet another year.

"Any negative experience through an airport will affect other airports," he said. 

Chenier's and Bos's advice to those flying in the near future is to get to the airport early and pack a little extra patience.