Pearson Airport Just Shared A Big Progress Update & Here's What Wait Times Look Like Now

Toronto Pearson Airport has had one heck of a ride lately, from people missing their flights, losing their bags, waiting in security lines for a ridiculous amount of time and so much more. But, these issues have not gone unnoticed, and the team at Pearson plans to make significant improvements in the coming months.

On Friday, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), Deborah Flint, made an announcement at Pearson Airport talking about the changes they have seen and others they hope to accomplish.

Flint said that Pearson Airport "has been an award-winning airport, and we are determined to get back to that status."

So, as many probably know and others have experienced, Pearson Airport security wait times have been unacceptably long. But Flint said that there have been "yielding improvements."

"Our partners at CATSA have hired hundreds of new employees to screen here at Pearson, and that is making a difference to lineups," the president of the GTAA added.

"The latest statistics that CATSA have provided indicate that 82% of passengers are now being screened in less than 15 minutes."

In other news, Pearson was ranked the worst airport in the world for delays and had a bad reputation for cancellations too.

But, according to Flint, 44% of flights have improved performance in the airport, this still means less than half of flights are on time.

Even though Flint says this isn't something she "would normally tout," but given where they have been in the past few months, that's a 9% improvement.

That's better than nothing, eh?

While leaving Pearson Airport is one hassle to worry about; the other is coming back, and right now your bag takes a million years to arrive. Well, Flint says this is something else they are working to improve. But, oddly enough, receiving your bag takes longer than going through security.

"The average wait time for bags is now at 24 minutes for the first bags to arrive at our baggage carousels, and that is continuing to improve across all different parts of the baggage delivery system," she added.

These aren't the only things Toronto's Pearson Airport hopes to improve. They've got some big technology-based plans they'd like to give their travellers for improved convenience.

If you didn't know this already, you can check how long the wait times are online, but what Pearson wants to do next is allow travellers to stand in the security line virtually before even arriving at the airport.

"Virtual queuing will allow passengers to reserve their space and time in the security screening line before they show up at the airport, giving more certainty, more choice to the passenger, which is what we strive to give," Flint said.

So, even though the airport is still not at its best, at least there are some improvements, right?

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.