Yellowknife airport security right now? It’s ‘a gong show.’

If you’ve been at Yellowknife Airport in recent weeks you may have come across a scene of chaos.

Scott Blue, among departing passengers at the airport on Tuesday, said he had to wait in the security line for more than an hour and a half.

After that, he said, staff “hustled me onto the plane, wouldn’t let you go to the bathroom – which is fair – and then we kept waiting for a little while for more people to come through.”

Yellowknife’s airport has one security line, leading to one conveyor belt for carry-on bags and one scanner through which passengers pass. Not all passengers go through security, as flights within the NWT generally don’t require screening, but anyone heading out of the territory must go through security to one of two gates on the other side.

Blue, headed to Toronto on an Air Canada flight, said other passengers were waiting in line for a large WestJet flight to Calgary.

“There’s simple math here,” he said. “They’re trying to push 310 people, because you have two big jets leaving within half an hour of one another, and they just can’t handle it with the one security system.”

Blue felt security staff appeared to have no sense of urgency and the line didn’t move for 10 minutes at a time.

“It was a bit of a gong show and, as someone who loves Yellowknife and wants it to succeed, for that to be the last memory for a lot of tourists would be… it’s not a good vibe,” he said.

Flight trackers indicate the Air Canada flight, an Airbus A319, was scheduled to leave Yellowknife at 12:55pm but did not depart until 1:41pm. The WestJet flight, a Boeing 737-800, was scheduled to leave at 1:25pm and left at 2:16pm.

Agency apologizes

Another passenger at the airport on Tuesday, departing on the WestJet flight, forwarded Cabin Radio a copy of their complaint to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, or Catsa, the Crown corporation responsible for passenger and baggage screening.

The passenger, who asked for their identity to be withheld, told Catsa they were concerned that security line delays would lead to increased costs. Passengers may have missed connecting flights and if crews exceeded their statutory duty times, that would have resulted in flight cancellations.

“A poor passenger experience, especially for most tourists who have travel connections to make. Something like this is unpleasant and negatively reflects on the community,” the passenger wrote.

“Yellowknife is a small community with a rapidly growing tourism industry. The airport security line situation must be avoided given the negative impacts.”

The complainant said they spoke with Catsa’s duty manager, who said the delay was “related to manpower and the utilization of a trainee in a key role who remained in that role without regard to the pre-screening line backlog growing.”

In an initial response to the complaint, Catsa offered an apology for the passenger’s customer service expectations not being met.

“We work within our operating budget and do everything we can to reduce the lineups while continuing to maintain the highest interests of security,” Catsa’s reply stated.

The complainant, though, said that response “lacked integrity and credibility” and was not appropriate.

Airlines say it’s affecting flights

Other passengers have reported similar delays in recent weeks.

In a statement, Air Canada told Cabin Radio it had contacted the Yellowknife Airport and Catsa “to discuss their operations, which have affected the on-time departure of some Air Canada flights at Yellowknife.”

A spokesperson for WestJet said that airline was also “aware of the security processing delays during peak travel periods at Yellowknife Airport” and was “in communication” with partners at the airport.

In response to a request for comment about the delays, the NWT government’s Department of Infrastructure – which is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the airport – directed Cabin Radio to contact Catsa.

In a statement to Cabin Radio, Catsa said the airport had experienced an increase in passenger traffic due to the Arctic Winter Games, which took place the previous week in Alaska.

“Catsa has one screening line in operation at the Yellowknife Airport and we work closely with industry partners, such as airports and air carriers, to help us prepare for busy periods,” Catsa stated. 

“While we are well staffed at the Yellowknife Airport, it’s important to note that wait times at any airport can occur for various reasons, even when staffing levels are optimal, and can fluctuate throughout the day based on passenger volume/number of flights.”