Flight delays, cancellations cripple Alberta’s two big airports

Both Calgary International Airport and Edmonton International Airport were dealing with multiple flight cancellations and delays on Sunday and Monday.

According to the departure schedule, it appeared that at least half of the flights scheduled to depart from Calgary on Monday were delayed or canceled. Arrivals were also affected.

At the Edmonton airport, there appeared to be slightly fewer delays and cancellations for the day’s scheduled flights. According to the airport’s website, it appeared that around half of the arrivals were either delayed or cancelled.

At both airports, the delays and cancellations affected outbound flights to domestic destinations – such as Winnipeg, Montreal and Victoria – and international locations – such as Phoenix, Seattle and Cancun. The problems appeared to be happening on most carriers, including WestJet, Air Canada, Sunwing, Swoop and Flair.

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Holiday travel advice for passengers at Edmonton International Airport

Ashley Stewart was trying to get home to Grande Prairie from Cancun. Her flight had a layover in Calgary.

“We were delayed four times last night and then at around 02:30 in the morning they decided to cancel our flights. And we are supposed to board at 11pm

“They said to just pick up a hotel, get your bags and everything the next day. We waited in an hour long line, we were told we were in the wrong line, just to get downstairs. So finally I just thought to look and I found our bags.

“Our Grande Prairie flight was delayed four times,” she explained. “Cancun to here, Calgary, was good. But once we got to Calgary, it was hard to get to our Grande Prairie flight.”

Stewart was able to get a ticket on a flight to Grande Prairie at 3 p.m. Monday, but was told there were only two seats left.

“I don’t know what other people who go to Grande Prairie do. I don’t know if they can come in today.”

She said travel this time of year carries some risk, but the amount of delays shocked her.

“You expect some delays, but I didn’t expect it to be like this,” Stewart said. “We weren’t just the only flight. There were tons of flights canceled so a lot of people were pretty upset. We knew it would be a mess.”

WestJet provided a statement to Global News, attributing the “multiple cancellations and delays over the past 24 hours” to the severe winter weather that has affected operations across Western Canada.

The airline said there were 104 cancellations on Sunday and 57 cancellations as of 11am on Monday.

“We understand the frustration and disappointment this has caused and our teams are working to re-accommodate guests as quickly as possible,” WestJet spokeswoman Madison Kruger said.

“The continued extreme cold weather warnings affecting Alberta and prolonged forecasted snow and weather events for regions across BC, including Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, as well as the Okanagan region, remain challenging as we work to stabilize our operations and to ensure the safety of our teams.

“We recognize that this has been an incredibly challenging situation for our guests as we navigate limited re-accommodation availability during peak travel times. Safety is our number one priority and we work with our partners to balance the challenges these weather events present. We truly appreciate our guests’ continued patience and are very grateful to our frontline staff and service partners who continue to work tirelessly to ensure our guests arrive safely at their destination as quickly as possible,” said Kruger.

She added that WestJet is asking travelers not to contact the airline until 72 hours before their flight as staff work to prioritize customers with “imminent travel plans.”

“Re-accommodation options for affected guests are being provided and communicated via email as soon as they are available,” she said.

Much of western and southern Alberta was under an extreme cold warning Monday, including the city of Calgary.

Environment Canada issued the warning, saying extremely cold wind chill values ​​of minus 40 are expected to persist. The weather agency said the extremely cold wind chill will continue throughout the week, especially in the overnight and early morning hours. A warming trend is expected by the weekend.

– More to come…

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