YVR grilled on December travel chaos, passengers promised better protection

The travel chaos that erupted at Vancouver International Airport over the holidays is under scrutiny in Ottawa as federal politicians demand answers and call for better passenger protections.

YVR’S CEO was grilled Thursday by a federal transport committee and asked to explain delays that left passengers stranded for days.

The disruptions began when about 30 centimetres of snow fell, bringing YVR to a standstill. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, impacting 90,000 passengers.

“Thirty centimetres of snow where I live is just known as a Thursday, but obviously this was outside the parameters in which YVR was able to operate,” said federal NDP transport critic Taylor Bachrach to YVR president Tamara Vrooman.

But Vrooman said it wasn’t the amount of snow that was the issue, but how fast it fell.

“The rate of snowfall increased significantly from a forecast of 10 to 12 cm to an actual accumulation of 30 cm, three times what was forecast," she said.

Bachrach also asked about passengers left sitting in planes on the tarmac.

“Given that YVR was acutely aware that there were planes with passengers stranded on board for 11 hours, was an offer ever made by YVR to the airlines to supply food and beverage on board?” he asked.

Vrooman said airlines never asked for assistance in that area.

“We certainly were constantly asking what support they needed and airlines were saying uncategorically they needed access to the gates, and so that was their priority,” said Vrooman.

YVR wasn’t the only target at Thursday's hearing. The CEO of Toronto’s Pearson Airport faced criticism from Chilliwack-Hope MP Mark Strahl.

“It sounds to me like you didn’t put your winter tires on and you got surprised that you go stuck in the snow,” he said.

The committee also heard from the CEO of Sunwing, who apologized to customers.

“The bottom line is we know we could have done better,” said Len Carrado.

The federal government can fine airlines for violating the Passenger Bill of Rights, but most cases end up going through the Canadian Transportation Agency, which has a backlog of 33,000 cases.

Opposition MPs are demanding the federal transportation minister do more to enforce passenger rights.

“Why does this government treat the airlines with kid gloves, and why haven’t you provided direction to the CTA to strengthen enforcement so that airlines stop trampling on passenger rights?” asked Bachrach.

Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra said that’s not what’s happening.

“In fact, we are looking to further strengthen the rules so passengers are protected,” he said.

No details of how that would happen were provided.

Meanwhile, YVR has announced two outside companies will do a review of what happened at the airport in December and is asking to hear from airlines, employees and passengers.

Vrooman said it is also working to improve communication and co-ordination.