Pearson Airport in Toronto is even more of a nightmare with the Rogers outage
It's not a stretch to say that Toronto's embattled Pearson Airport has been one of the worst places on earth to travel through in recent months. Some might have even argued, previous to today's nationwide Rogers service outage, that the sitaution at Pearson couldn't possibly get any worse.
They were wrong.
Like so many other establishments in Canada today, the country's largest airport is struggling to function without solid access to debit machines, wireless service, ATMs or anything else reliant on Canada's largest telecom.
Stick at Pearson Airport for 6hrs with $2 in cash, no cell service from Rogers, debit machines not working and ATMs also not working . If I’m lucky I’ll find a place that will sell me a coffee on Visa.
— Bill Gomez (@BillGomez2) July 8, 2022
First, there's the issue of paying for anything at retail stores or restaurants within the massive airport; with Interac down, it's cash only. Some places are accepting credit cars, but ATMs and even e-transfer services are down thanks to Interac's reliance on Rogers.
Wishing anyone going through Pearson today best of luck and Godspeed dealing with an already problematic airport who’s main provider is you guessed it… rogers…
— Chris(Nitro) (@Nitrochram) July 8, 2022
Some passengers are reporting problems with their documents being accepted on account of the outage.
Rogers internet down across Canada.
— RevDaniel (@RevDaniel) July 8, 2022
Pearson airport can’t process some documents because it depends on Rogers.
Many banks can’t process Interac because they use Rogers.
Toronto bike share isn’t working b/c it’s dependent on Rogers.
The problem with monopolies.
Others are simply jonesin' for service on their own cell phones while they wait in lines and on tarmacs at the notoriously busy and crowded airport.
Imagine landing at Pearson Airport and then you have no cell service while you’re stuck on the runway for 1 hour..
— nftalan.eth (@AlanM__) July 8, 2022
The Greater Toronto Transport Airports Authority (GTAA), which operates Pearson, tells blogTO that the flight hub is in fact "seeing minor impacts from the Rogers outage."
"This includes possible delays with fuel operations and debit is not currently available in retail shops," says a representative for the GTAA.
It's hard to determine from the outside which flights are delayed or cancelled due to Rogers-related fuel operations and which are just... you know, normal Pearson heckery right now.
Wow I can only imagine the shit show at an already disgrace Pearson Airport.
— Brenol (@Rolltide9193) July 8, 2022
Compounding the issues inside Pearson are the federal government's requirements that everyone arriving in the country, citizen or visitor, must fill out the ArriveCAN app upon entry.
This is proving impossible to do for people who can't access the internet on their phones.
Due to the current Rogers network outage, travellers may not be able to complete their ArriveCAN submission.
— Canada Border Services Agency (@CanBorder) July 8, 2022
Toronto Pearson International Airport has been plagued by huge crowds, long lineups, security delays and serious baggage claim woes for months now as the world opens up to travel once again post-pandemic.
Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra last week admitted that the situation at Pearson is"unacceptable," and earlier this week announced new measures to help remedy some of the problems.
These efforts include hiring more than 1,000 more security screening officers, installing additional customs kiosks, improving the mandatory ArriveCAN app and the formation of a special task force to address air travel woes as well as a massive backlog for passport renewals.
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