Canadian airports reported Saturday disruptions tied to a four-hour U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ground stop on Friday.
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The ripple effects of a four-hour U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ground stop continued at Canadian airports on Saturday, with airlines issuing flight notices and travellers reporting delays.
Airports across the country posted updates on social media, including Toronto Pearson International Airport, which said, “A busy day of travel is underway,” and said it called in additional staff to assist.
Air Canada said Saturday it cancelled approximately 250 flights after the U.S. order, which affected some 27,000 passengers. In a statement, Air Canada spokesperson Yasmine Mehdi said the disruption “has carried over into today,” with additional cancellations as aircraft and crews are out of position, and that “Returning to normal operations will take some time.”
Porter Airlines and WestJet said it could take until the weekend for flights to return to normal schedules. Porter said it would refund customers who cannot accommodate rescheduled flights, while WestJet said flexible rescheduling was activated.
Travellers also reported delays and added expenses. Edward Langer, who was in New York with his 15-year-old daughter, said his Saturday flight back to Edmonton was postponed by about four days and that his family faced missed school and work days as well as additional hotel costs.
Another traveller, Isabelle Rochefort, said she received word that her Air Canada flight from Montreal to Cancun, Mexico, had been cancelled around 5 p.m. Friday while she was in line at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport. She said airline staff had little information about what would happen next, and she later arranged transport home to Sorel-Tracy more than an hour and a half away.
Rochefort said she had been rebooked on a new flight leaving Sunday, but expected to pay for another ride to the airport.
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