Almost a quarter of the Canada's airport security screeners were laid off as a pandemic cost savings, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority figures disclosed yesterday..According to Blacklock's Reporter, the Authority said contractors were scrambling to rehire staff amid hours-long waits for travelers..“The problem at the airports today and specifically the busiest airports in Canada relates to the labour market and the staffing of screening officer positions by our third party screening contractors,” Nancy Filchett, vice president of the Security Authority, yesterday testified at the Senate national finance committee..“At this time it is not a funding problem.”.Another manager acknowledged 1,750 screening officers out of a total 7,400 were laid off. Hundreds never returned, said Kelsey MacTavish, senior director of operations..“I can tell you right now we have approximately 6,800 screening agents throughout the system and 1,250 came back last year,” said MacTavish. “There were about 1,750 that could have come back.”.“Does that mean we have a shortage?” asked Senator Éric Forest (Que.). “What is the staff shortage to reach pre-pandemic levels?”.“Before the pandemic we had about 7,400 screening officers,” replied Director MacTavish. “Right now we have 6,800 and recruitment is ongoing. In the year to come we’re trying to recruit 1,000 screening officers.”.The Security Authority has recommended passengers anticipate up to a three-hour wait before departure. Managers have twice apologized for delays..Senator Elizabeth Marshall (Nfld. & Labrador) yesterday said the reason for delays was evident. “It just seems a lot of the staff are inexperienced at the airports,” said Marshall..“I can tell you from experience, and I am travelling several times a week, that it’s inconsistent when you go through different airports,” Marshall told the national finance committee..“There is an issue with regards to inconsistency and there is also a problem with your secondary screening. Those two areas are really causing backlogs.”.Transport Minister Omar Alghabra yesterday said would not set any deadline on when airport operations would return to normal. “I know how frustrating it is for passengers,” Alghabra told reporters..“Could you give us some kind of time frame on this?” asked a reporter. Alghabra replied, “look, it’s the greatest sense of urgency,” .“We need to understand the causes of these issues,” said Alghabra. “We’re seeing similar phenomena at Dublin’s airport, at Geneva’s airport, at Paris’ airport, at London’s airport, at Amsterdam’s airport. So it’s really important to recognize that this is a global context. Having said that, we have to do something about it.”.“We’ve been adding resources,” said Alghabra. “In fact I would argue the Air Transport Security Authority situation is improving.”
