by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 12:45 PM ET, Wed July 2, 2025
Count yourself lucky if you avoided flying through Vancouver International Airport (YVR) this weekend. With dozens of cancellations and more than 200 delays reported, the airport was a frustrating, crowded place to be ahead of the Canada Day holiday.
“Saturday (was) an incredibly frustrating day for passengers,” Stephen Smart, YVR head of communications told CTV News on Monday. “Incredibly frustrating day for our partners. Incredibly frustrating day for us.”
The problem lay at the feet of NAV Canada, which faced a shortage of air traffic controllers, resulting in a rollback of the number of planes it was possible to safely handle coming into YVR at any given hour.
On June 28 and 29, 2025, the airport website posted a notice of delays, asking passengers (particularly transborder travellers) not to arrive at the airport before the airline’s stated arrival time, in an effort to alleviate some of the crowding. CATSA and US Border Services extended their hours to accommodate the delays and some food outlets were open late or throughout the night to help stranded, hungry passengers.
Airlines responded to the situation with strong words. In a statement posted on Canadian Aviation News, WestJet stated. “Canadians deserve consistent accountability and service standards across the entire aviation eco-system,” it reads. “These delays lead to significant inconveniences for guests and considerable costs to airlines as their operations need to recover and interrupted guests need to be reaccommodated.”
Air Canada echoed the sentiment. “The issue seriously affects passengers not only flying to/from YVR, but across Air Canada’s network, as knock-on effects from aircraft and crews which are delayed in YVR can then be delayed at other airports downline.”
Both airlines indicated the need for changes at the aviation agency in order to avoid these kinds of problems, with Air Canada stating, ““We are engaged in dialogue with NAV Canada and expect solutions that will allow the country’s air transport ecosystem to operate smoothly and meet Canadians’ and global passengers’ travel expectations going forward.”
WestJet noted the need for immediate solutions. “WestJet understands that long-term solutions are in development and NAV CANADA management is doing all in their power to improve this challenging situation; however, the current situation presents serious operational challenges, as the industry heads into peak summer travel, with no short-term solutions in sight.”
NAV Canada recognizes the issue, without indicating a timeline for the problems to be solved, telling CTV, “Our team is doing everything it can to ensure aircraft are moving, first and foremost safely, but also efficiently and we regret any impacts to the flying public,” says Director, Stakeholder and Industry Relations, Jonathan Bagg.
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