Vancouver airport getting back on track after hectic week of holiday travel

After a week that saw hundreds of cancellations and logistical chaos for travelers, Vancouver International Airport saw a relatively calm Christmas Day.

“Today at YVR, we are expecting to see about 59,000 passengers and are operating at about 93 per cent of our originally scheduled flight capacity,” said Alyssa Smith, communications manager at YVR.

The airport set up a comfort and care area last week in partnership with the Red Cross to support the hundreds of stranded passengers. 

Despite the improvement, dozens remain in flight limbo.

Carol Joy Green tells CTV News she and her husband are stuck Vancouver until Wednesday after a nightmare flight from Toronto.

“We sat on the plane that was already delayed for six hours because they didn’t have anyone to load luggage on at Pearson,” said Green, resting with her husband on one of the cots in YVR’s comfort and care area.

Green is travelling back home to Prince George and missed her connecting flight due to the delay. She says Air Canada rescheduled their flight for Wednesday, offering no compensation due to bad weather.

“We’re disappointed,” said Green. “We’re trying to see if we can couch surf anywhere, because if we end up paying for hotels and food, we may as well buy new tickets to Prince George."

Another traveller told CTV News her delay in Toronto put her trip to Australia in jeopardy.

“First, they said the flight was delayed due to the plane not coming in from a previous flight,” said Caren Rapp, a traveller from Toronto also passing time in the comfort and care area.

“When it did get in, they said they couldn’t get the baggage off the plane because they said they were short-staffed.”

Rapp says she’s working with the airline to connect to her destination through New Zealand. She says she’s impressed with YVR’s handling of stranded passengers.

“They’re keeping it spotlessly clean, providing lots of drinking water and snacks for everybody, no charge,” said Rapp. “I haven’t seen this in any airport anywhere.”

YVR plans on extending the comfort and care area to Dec. 27, and possibly longer if needed.