Air Canada system outage leaves passengers stranded at Toronto's Pearson airport
The ongoing comedy of errors that is post-lockdown air travel in Canada continues this week at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, where an "IT issue" is said to have basically dummied the nation's largest carrier.
Pearson itself first warned that Air Canada was having issues at 1:37 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, noting that the airline is "experiencing an intranet outage that is impacting functions such as check-in, baggage delivery and gating."
"Air Canada passengers are encouraged to check in online before leaving for the airport," reads Pearson's tweet, which also states that AC is "working hard to resolve the issue."
@AirCanada does it again! 🥲 #aircanada #failcanada pic.twitter.com/6fYOiJRlDZ
— J Thind (@jthind47) February 2, 2023
About 20 minutes later, Air Canada similarly announced the news on Twitter, writing, "We are currently experiencing an IT issue affecting airport check-in at Toronto Pearson. Customers should check in through mobile or on the web before going to the airport."
At Air Canada, we're not happy until you're not happy.
— Gene Valaitis (@genevalaitis) February 2, 2023
Neither the airport or airline have provided an estimate to blogTO regarding when systems are expected to come back online, but some AC customers on Twitter say they've already been stranded for hours, and that they have no idea what's happening.
@AirCanada - international check in terminals are down at Pearson. Saying “we are experiencing operational delays” is not communicating. People want to know how they will be effected. Eg “people with carry on go to gate. Flights will be delayed to accommodate” it’s not that hard.
— Loren Christie (@LorenChristie) February 2, 2023
"We need better communication from you Air Canada," tweeted one travel agency in response to the mess on Thursday.
"Our clients are stranded in Pearson airport and looking for guidance. At least send updates to travel agency partners so they can advise their clients accordingly."
Am at YYZ & things at standstill. Having computer system outage going on nearly 2 hours. @AirCanada not communicating enough & a joke showing flights still on time to depart.
— /kəˈrəpSH(ə)n/ (@DGC10035115) February 2, 2023
"This is becoming a complete joke," wrote another Twitter user of Air Canada's IT outage. "So many staff standing around and when asked a question they push you off to someone else. Do better."
Air canada wont see heaven and will pay for their crimes
— P 🧚🏾♀️ (@petitexpettie) February 2, 2023
While Toronto Pearson International Airport was coming under fire for frequent service issues last summer, the airport has since implemented various programs and technologies to make things run more smoothly.
By many accounts, Pearson (operated by The Greater Toronto Airports Authority [GTAA]) has gotten way better in recent months.
Unfortunately for the GTAA, some individual airlines flying out of Pearson continue to engage passengers on a near-daily basis with claims of lost baggage, delayed flights, route changes, staffing shortages and abysmal customer service.
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