Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra met with members of the aviation sector to discuss industry modernization and digitization measures and learn from the mistakes that led to significant travel disruptions this summer.

Alghabra also led, along with Minister Randy Boissonnault and Parliamentary Secretary Annie Koutrakis, a national summit on aviation sector recovery on Thursday to discuss improvements in Canadian air transport, including transparency, accountability, and passenger rights.

Alghabra said that after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the aviation industry faced a new crisis of congestion and delays last summer.

The minister also added that government officials and aviation stakeholders discussed improvement plans before the increase in winter travel, including updating the security screening process and digitizing information exchange.

Also during the summer, the large number of travelers and insufficient staffing levels contributed to lost luggage and flight disruptions, with Toronto Pearson Airport recording the worst on-time performance in the world for delayed flights.

Additionally, the spokesperson for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Tory Ghas, said she has worked closely with airlines and government partners and that Pearson has seen significant improvements since the summer.