First impressions matter. Lineups for incoming travellers have gotten so bad that during May security staff were forced to hold passengers outside of a jammed customs hall an average of twice a day. Wait times in the holding area is more than 30 minutes before travellers could begin the long process of working their way through the customs lineup.
That’s no way to welcome home weary residents or visitors who are bringing millions of dollars of business to the GTA, whether they’re spending their vacation money or investing in city businesses and ventures. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is asking Ottawa to step in to provide more funding to improve customs and immigration screening. Given the situation at Pearson, the government should agree to the more-than-reasonable $5 million the authority is asking for.
Otherwise, as Toronto Region Board of Trade president Jan De Silva warns: “The unintended consequences are going to be horrific for us at a time when we’re looking for global growth to stimulate our economy.” And Ottawa shouldn’t stop there. It should consider whether business travellers and tourists will want to come back after what they go through when they are trying to catch a flight.
At peak times passengers have waited an hour to get through security clearance. To be fair, that’s not the norm. Of the 17.6 million passengers screened at Pearson in 2015, almost three-quarters got through the checkpoints in 10 minutes or less. But another 4.8 million had to wait longer than 10 minutes, and half of those were held up for more than 15 minutes.
That’s unconscionable in a so-called world-class city that is competing globally for visitors and business travellers. Consider London’s Heathrow Airport, where 95 per cent of passengers are screened in five minutes or less. That’s why the airport authority is also asking for another $20 million for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to improve screening for travellers trying to catch a flight. It should get it before things get worse. That’s right. The screening authority says wait times will increase next year because it is facing budget restrictions even as passenger volumes increase at Canadian airports.
Travellers are not a captive audience; most of them have choices. Ottawa must invest in airport screening and customs and make sure Toronto doesn’t lose out because it makes passengers feel stressed out and unwelcome.
