This week Canadians who had the dubious pleasure of
flying in and out of Lester B. Pearson airport were exposed to a series of exasperating
and seemingly incompetent moves by airport officials. Thousands of travelers
had their plans disrupted: there were cancellations and delays galore; luggage was
lost or retained without explanation; contradictory messages from those “in
charge” abounded.
Then we heard that Howard Eng, the CEO of the GTAA, was not
prepared to be forthcoming on what had gone wrong. In my world, the CEO is
accountable for everything – yes, everything. And if he has not put the
necessary systems and processes and a framework in place to enable smooth
operations, that’s indefensible.
For instance, when there is an unexplained two-hour delay
with the luggage carousels in the summer, that’s a failure – let along a two-day
delay in the winter!
And please don’t give as an excuse the weather. Do we not
live in Canada? Is this not winter? Yes, storms occur, but when the GTAA fails
to competently manage the situation, that’s plain wrong.
Officials at the GTAA have even used as an excuse that
unloading larger planes has caused the luggage woes. Pardon me, I thought Toronto is a world class
city. Can the GTAA not accommodate large planes? Heathrow doesn’t have these
issues, so why do we?
Nick
Forrest