Major airport delays in wake of bomb attempt

U.S.-bound passengers at Toronto's Pearson International Airport were experiencing significant delays Sunday as a result of new security measures implemented following an attempted attack Friday on a flight into Detroit.

Sunday morning's first volley of flights to Washington, Atlanta and Houston departed nearly two hours late, on average. An early-morning flight to Chicago left four hours late, and one to New York was six hours behind. By noon, some flights originally slated to depart at 8 a.m. still hadn't taken off.

The airport was also suffering from a higher-than-usual toll of cancellations.

Upward of 10 per cent of departures had been nixed as of mid-afternoon, well above the usual rate of one to two per cent. The vast majority of the cancellations were of flights to the U.S.

Transport Canada mandated the security crackdown, in conjunction with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, after a man tried to light an explosive device on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it was about to land in Detroit on Friday.

On Saturday, the U.S. Justice Department charged Nigerian native Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, with several counts, including attempting to destroy an airplane with a destructive device.

"These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere," U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. "We are also working … on additional security measures."

The new security rules for U.S.-bound trips include two hand-screenings of all carry-on baggage, a pat-down of all passengers before they can board a plane and a limit of one carry-on bag per traveller.

Air Canada has also said its passengers must remain in their seats and have no baggage on their laps for the last hour of flights to the U.S.

The heightened scrutiny requires about five to seven minutes for each passenger to get through airport security, which has led to long lineups at Pearson airport. An audio announcement being played in all terminals with U.S. departures cautions travellers about the new rules and expected delays.

Air Canada, Jazz cancel flights

Air Canada and Jazz said Sunday evening that due to protracted waits for customer security clearance at Canadian airports, the two carriers are being forced to cancel select short-haul flights to the U.S. beginning immediately.

"These cancellations will be implemented primarily on short-haul transborder routes with multiple daily flights between Toronto and the northeast U.S.," they said in a release. "Air Canada plans to consolidate affected flights and operate larger aircraft on these routes in order to minimize the impact on passengers."

Jazz is a regional airline based in Halifax and operates flights for Air Canada.

Air Canada said the new security measures imposed by Canadian and U.S. government authorities were causing significant delays and cancellations for flights from Canada to the U.S.

"Northbound flights from the U.S. to Canada are also being impacted due to late inbound aircraft," the airline said. "Customers can also expect potential delays on other domestic and international flights due to airport congestion and delayed aircraft."

Air Canada said travellers to the U.S. are being limited to one personal carry-on item, such as a purse, computer bag, diaper bag or small backpack.

It said all other baggage must be checked, but excess baggage charges will be waived on a temporary basis for U.S. bound customers.