On a top 5 list recently posted by CNN travel, Montreal Trudeau and Toronto Pearson took the top two spots for the most airport delays, or in other words, the least amount of flights to leave on time, in the entire world.
Toronto Pearson ranked #1 as the airport with most delays (51.9%), most commonly due to weather events. Combined with recent staff shortages, it’s not a surprise that Toronto has held this spot for the past 3 years.
Montreal (#2) sees 47.8% of all flights delayed (as of 2023), and this figure is largely due to weather events and the airport’s older infrastructure and capacity issues.
By comparison, JFK and Newark airports see roughly 28 – 35% of all flights delayed.
The problem seems to be a combination of weather and operational leadership with each facility’s largest airline and its contender–Air Canada and Westjet. Just 6 months ago, Cirium Aviation Analytics released a report measuring the performance of North America’s top 10 airlines. Air Canada ranked dead last, with over 45% of all of its flights delayed. Westjet’s number was 40%.
At the Ottawa airport, an average of 18% of flights are delayed, roughly 5 per day.
What does this mean for Ottawans? As we look to Montreal and Toronto as our two main hubs for international travel, nothing good.
