Hundreds of flights were cancelled at Toronto’s two airports after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop order on Friday, leaving many travellers stranded.
The order issued shortly before 4 p.m. ET due to communications problems at regional air traffic control centres was lifted hours later, allowing planes to take off again.
At Toronto Pearson International Airport, the order resulted in all U.S.-bound departures or arrivals being halted.
According to Pearson’s website, more than 120 U.S. flights scheduled to depart and arrive were cancelled.
Airport spokesperson Erica Vella said 20 other international flights were also cancelled as a result of the ground stop order.
Air Canada cancelled all of its flights to and from the U.S. for the remainder of the evening. The airline also said flights between Canada and the Caribbean and South America that transit U.S. airspace may also be affected.
Speaking with CP24 on Friday night, Vella said the situation is “very fluid.”
She reiterated what airport officials have been saying all night: that passengers should check directly with their airlines about their flight status.
“We are telling passengers to make sure that they are checking their flight status and to not come to the airport if they do not have a confirmed booking.” Vella said.
Other international and domestic flights that did not have to transit through U.S. airspace continued to operate out of Pearson.
Meanwhile, Toronto Billy Bishop Airport said it was monitoring the situation in co-ordination with airline and air traffic control partners.
The island airport noted that in addition to Air Canada, Porter Airlines had cancelled all remaining Friday U.S.-inbound and outbound flights.
NAV Canada, the country’s air navigation service provider, said it briefly implemented “traffic management measures” at Pearson and three other major airports “to safely manage traffic volumes.”
NAV Canada has said that the U.S. ground stop has no impact on its operations and systems are operating normally.
Following the lifting of the ground stop order, NAV Canada said some delays may continue while operations return to normal and backlogs are cleared.
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Passengers frustrated
CP24 spoke to several passengers at the airport who were frustrated about what’s happening.
Donna, who is flying to New York City for the weekend, said her flight has been rescheduled for tomorrow.
“I was really hoping to fly out tonight. So, it’s a bit of an unfortunate situation,” she told CP24.
“Definitely very disappointed that my plans for the weekend have been cancelled, or at least very delayed.”
Derek is supposed to fly to Las Vegas and says Air Canada has told him to “stick around.” However, he is not optimistic that he’ll get to his destination.
“It’s most likely going to be cancelled. And even if you’re rebooked till tomorrow, it’s unlikely. So, I think you’re going to have people with a lot of refunds,” Derek said.
Shahab Mirmiran came to Toronto on Monday for work and is hoping to get back to Los Angeles tonight.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know what’s going on. I have to go. I need to do something for work,” he said. “They’re just saying you have to wait.”
Another man who arrived from London, U.K., says he’s waiting to hear about his connecting flight to Raleigh, N.C.
“It stinks, but just holding off for a little bit and seeing what happens,” he said.
Toronto couple stranded
Toronto-area couple Lyle Jakobsen and his wife were supposed to fly back from Sint Maarten this afternoon when their Air Canada flight got cancelled.
“We boarded. Everything was fine. In probably 10 minutes after boarding, we got a notification that we would be delayed. There was the FAA issue, so we sat on the tarmac for, I would say, probably the better part of an hour and 15 minutes,” Jakobsen told CP24 on Friday night.
“The pilot kept us up to date while we were on the tarmac.”
Passengers were then deboarded, and Jakobsen said he was able to find a hotel where they could stay.
Air Canada has said that flights from the Caribbean and South America that have to pass through U.S. airspace would be impacted by the ground stop.
“Air Canada has been very communicative with us, and we’re happy with that for sure. So, what one more night in Saint Martin is probably not the worst scenario,” Jakobsen said, adding that he hopes that they get to fly back to Toronto tomorrow.
With files from CP24 reporter Natalie Van Rooy and The Canadian Press
