A member of Parliament says Ottawa may have underestimated CanadiansB次元官网网址� desire to travel when planning for a return to normal following the end of most pandemic restrictions.

Airlines and airports have been grappling with a surge in customers this summer, compounded by staffing shortages affecting both carriers and federal agencies.

As a result, travellers have experienced widespread flight cancellations, baggage delays and lengthy lineups, particularly at TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Pearson International Airport.

Last month, due to a glitch, the ArriveCan app instructed about 10,200 travellers to quarantine for 10 days when they didnB次元官网网址檛 have to.

Annie Koutrakis, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of transport, told reporters in Calgary on Tuesday that planning for a return to normal fell a bit short.

B次元官网网址淲e did anticipate. Yes, the planning did start. What we underestimated unfortunately was the desire to which everyone wanted to travel and everyone wanted to travel at the same time,B次元官网网址� Koutrakis said.

B次元官网网址淭he data shows us that we were not anticipating everybody to start travelling to the degree that they did. ItB次元官网网址檚 not like we were waiting and not planning behind the scenes to be ready for it. ItB次元官网网址檚 just more could have been done.B次元官网网址�

Koutrakis said this is the first time the government has gone through a pandemic like COVID-19 and there are lessons to be learned.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra was grilled about the delays at a House of Commons committee last week.

Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman asked him if the federal government bears any responsibility and Alghabra replied: B次元官网网址淚 blame it on COVID.B次元官网网址� He pointed to labour shortages as the primary contributor to the delays.

Koutrakis said data indicates that abandoning the ArriveCan app would increase delays and bottlenecks and removing the mask mandate would not reduce wait times.

Koutrakis announced nearly $2 million to help the Calgary International Airport improve current and future flight scheduling and connection times between flights, as well as establish dedicated corridors to enable physical distancing.

There were no representatives from any of the airlines at the announcement. But Bob Sartor, the president and CEO of the Calgary Airport Authority, said the carriers are suffering through the same problems in hiring enough staff.

B次元官网网址淭he reality is, they are facing to a greater extent issues that we face at YYC and that is the need for additional staffing. They did what we did as an airport and they reduced significantly their staffing during the pandemic,B次元官网网址� Sartor said.

Sartor said recertifying pilots and getting staff security clearances can take months to complete.

B次元官网网址淪ometimes it can be two or three months .B次元官网网址� There are some things that have to happen, and one of the things is we need to get pilots certified. We need to get more staff like the air carriers do,B次元官网网址� Sartor said.

B次元官网网址淚f we ever have one of these Black Swan events B次元官网网址� and I pray we do not B次元官网网址� we need a consolidated aviation sector restart plan.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擝ill Graveland, The Canadian Press