Most Irritating Airport Is…
www.blacklocks.ca, Tom Korski
Toronto’s Pearson International is the most irritating airport in the country, according to complaints logged by Canada Border Services Agency. Documents cite hundreds of grievances a year, ranging from inadequate signage to “infrastructure”.
The Greater Toronto Airport Authority declined comment on the log of complaints, released through Access To Information. “It is best to contact the agency,” said Shabeen Hanifa, a spokesperson.
Toronto drew more than double the number of passenger grievances of other airports. It has repeatedly been voted the worst airport in Canada in client surveys conducted by Flightnetwork.com, which cited Pearson for long line-ups; delays in clearing security; and a lack of good restaurants. More than 71 percent of respondents in a 2013 poll called Pearson the worst in the nation; “By virtue of being the busiest and largest airport in Canada, it is always going to have the most complaints,” CEO Naman Budhdeo said in a statement.
Agency records indicate in the period from January 1, 2013 to September 16, 2014, border officers heard 882 complaints from travellers at Pearson. By comparison, grievances at other airports totaled:
•375 at Vancouver;
•346 at Montreal’s Trudeau International;
•188 at Calgary;
•82 at Ottawa;
•57 at Edmonton, and Québec City’s Jean Lesage Airport;
•51 at Winnipeg;
•50 at Halifax.
Airports with fewer complaints included Regina, with a total of eleven in the 2013-14 period, as well as Saskatoon (10 complaints); St. John’s and London, Ont. (7); and Kelowna, B.C. (four).
The most common complaints cited “employee conduct” by Canada Border Services officers; irritation over luggage searches and intrusive questioning; seizure of imported foods; lack of bilingual service; “privacy protection”; and delays and wait times.
Toronto’s Pearson is the most heavily used airport in the country with 31.8 million passengers travelling through its terminals each year, by official estimate.