Holiday travel woes continue at Calgary International Airport

The winter storm in Vancouver and the extreme cold in Alberta mean travellers continue to face cancellations and long delays at Calgary International Airport at the peak of the holiday travel period.

For Jonathan Fountain, what was supposed to be a quick business trip to Calgary has turned into a days-long nightmare.

“I’ve had four, five, six flights cancelled and I haven’t received as much as a food voucher,” he told CTV News.

Fountain is trying to get back to Vancouver for the holidays, but right now, those plans are up in the air.

“It’s very stressful. I’m trying to get back to see family that I haven’t seen in a while,” he said.

“It’s been frustrating, just not knowing what’s going on and not really getting timely notice of when things are cancelled and when they’re not.”

More than 1,000 flights across the country have been cancelled by WestJet and Air Canada over recent days.

In Calgary, WestJet said its plane de-icer won’t work in temperatures this cold, and baggage handlers are having to limit their time outside.

B.C.’s snow storm on Tuesday is also still having ripple effects.

Some travellers are being told they won’t be able to get on a flight to Vancouver or Victoria for at least 48 hours.

“I don’t know anybody in this town. What am I going to do for two days? Walk around the airport?” said Joseph Desroches, who is trying to get to Victoria to see his grandkids.

Frinziska Richter just returned from a trip to Amsterdam and is now stuck in Calgary until she can get a flight home to Victoria.

“No one is looking after you, you have no one to talk to,” she said.

“I’m very frustrated now and exhausted. I just want to go home.”

WestJet cancelled more than 130 flights on Wednesday alone and expects to cancel at least nine more on Thursday.

“We are monitoring multiple weather systems and anticipate further weather impacts in the coming days and will be publishing proactive cancellation packages,” the airline said in a statement.

Guests who are travelling between now and Dec. 26 and want to cancel their flight due to uncertainty can do so by filling out this form.

They will receive a full refund.

Meanwhile, Air Canada would not provide its specific number of cancelled flights, but gave this general information:

“Since the beginning of December, our flight completion rate has been well above 98 per cent. Over the past five days, which saw storms in Ontario and then B.C., our flight completion rate dropped to 87.25 per cent,” the airline said in a statement.

“Despite the weather, we still moved about 127,000 people (Tuesday).”

Air Canada said it is implementing what it calls “an extended goodwill policy” for people who decide to cancel or reschedule their holiday travel plans.

“So that people due to travel to and from Vancouver Dec. 20 to 25 can rebook at no charge up to Dec. 31 or receive a voucher for future travel,” the statement said.

However, for those left stranded, it isn’t enough.

“I feel pretty disappointed that we had to spend extra money on cabs, food and then a hotel and none of it was covered,” said Dijana Klovansky, who is trying to get back to Vancouver.

“I just hope that we can get home today at least, maybe tomorrow, because I’d like to be home for Christmas.”

John Gradek, an aviation management expert, said what’s happening now comes down to a lack of planning and adjustment to pre-pandemic travel levels.

He also said the industry has lost years of experience as people were laid off, quit or retired.

“It’s showing in the way in which airports are being run and the way the airlines are being run, particularly in situations where we have phenomena like weather,” said Gradek, who is a faculty lecturer in the aviation management program at McGill University.

“It’s going to take the school of hard knocks for everybody to kind of get their act together.”

The Calgary Airport Authority is asking travellers to plan ahead and prepare for delays and cancellations by checking with their airline beforehand.