Pearson Airport Was Named Most Stressful Airport In North America & It's An 'Embarrassment'

Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) has been trying to rebuild its damaged reputation since the summer, but despite some more recent improvements, it seems people aren't forgetting the airport's troubles very quickly.

Pearson Airport was just named the "most stressful" airport in North America and the fourth most stressful airport in the world.

The recent study by HawaiianIslands looked at over 1,500 Google reviews for more than 500 airports around the world to determine a percentage of which reviews indicate a stressful airport experience.

That data revealed 76% of passengers traveling through Pearson said they were stressed out.

"According to sentiment analysis from TensiStrength, 76.0% of reviews for Toronto Pearson International airport indicate stress, the most of any airport in North America," reads the study. "Some of the most commonly cited phrases in negative reviews include “customs,” “immigration,” “layover,” “embarrassment,” and “lost luggage." According to data from FlightAware compiled by CNN Travel, 52.5% of flights scheduled between May 26 and July 19, 2022, at Toronto Pearson were delayed."

There it is again — the reminder of that summer of chaos.

The study's findings added insult to injury when it noted "the busiest airports are not necessarily the most stressful."

"While JFK in New York is one of the busiest airports in the world, the most stressful airport in New York – and the United States – is in Albany. According to sentiment analysis from TensiStrength, 70.2% of Google reviews for Albany International Airport indicate stress – the most of any airport in the country," read the study. "Reviewers commonly warn fellow travelers to fly using JFK or LaGuardia if they have the option."

In a statement to Narcity, Pearson said between November 7 and 13, "airline on-time performance was down to 55% versus 59% for the rolling four-week average," a decline it blamed on issues with dense fog during that time period.

"The percentage of flights cancelled remained unchanged at 4%," said a spokesperson.

Looking outside North America, UK's Manchester Airport was named the most stressful airport in the world, with 82.5% of reviews indicating stress.

Nine of 10 of the world's most stressful airports are also in Europe, but the study noted, "travelers tend to feel more stressed when traveling in other parts of the world."

However, other Canadian airports aside from Pearson also faired quite poorly.

Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) was ranked the 19th most stressful airport in North America with a tally of stress-indicating reviews at 56.75%.

Canadian airports ranked by stressful reviews. HawaiianIslands

Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR) faired better, with the tally of stressed reviews below 50%.

The Ottawa International Airport was the best performer according to this study, with 25.9% of passengers indicating a stressful experience when travelling through that airport.