Another blast of wintry weather is expected to cause significant delays and cancellations for pax flying in and out of Toronto Pearson today (21JAN).
Forecasts are calling for up to 10 cm of snow in north Toronto, with “moderate” snowfall expected at YYZ from around 10 a.m. EST through mid-afternoon. The city was hit with a major storm last week and is only now beginning to dig out, making another snowfall an unwelcome development for travellers.
Speaking on CITY this morning, YYZ Airport Duty Manager Jake Keating said 100,000 passengers are expected at the airport today.
“Our biggest concern is snowfall,” he said. “We do have a departures traffic initiative in place, which sets an artificial limit on the number of departures leaving the building. Unfortunately, that does mean delays.”
FlightAware data as of 4 p.m. ET was showing 257 delays and 61 cancellations at YYZ, while the Pearson website was reporting widespread delays and scattered cancellations for the morning. It also posted on X:
“Preparing for a wintry day with frigid temperatures and snow forecast to fall at the airport. Our crews are prepared for snow-clearing operations and will be out doing continuous loops of the airfield using more than 100 pieces of specialized equipment.”
Air Canada’s website says the airline has winter weather advisories out for YYZ, YTZ, YUL and YOW. They also have a strong winds advisory out for St. John’s (YYT).
As of 4 p.m. FlightAware was reporting 38 cancelled Air Jazz flights across the country and 37 cancelled Air Canada flights, as well as 11 on Air Canada Rouge. It was showing only two WestJet cancellations.
Air Canada says it has introduced flexible booking policies to help affected customers. It also has sent out emails to some customers, offering as much as $850 to change their flying plans for the day.
Porter Airlines also posted an advisory telling pax that there are visibility issues at YHM, YYZ, YTZ, and YVR.
