Irishmonk
Senior Member
Charles De Gaulle is my personal pick for worst airport experience ever, for reasons too numerous to list.
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Toronto Pearson International Airport
- Thread starter p5connex
- Start date
gabe
Senior Member
That place is bad. Worst thing about some of these American airports, especially in the south, they got TSA agents acting like Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal Jacket. These guys are just federalized mall cops.
Amare
Senior Member
Shout out to Newark for being an absolute dump. Cant even compare it to Pearson.
I will say though, that T3 can use a big enhancement (most especially the arrivals area which is just plain bad).
I will say though, that T3 can use a big enhancement (most especially the arrivals area which is just plain bad).
EastYorkTTCFan
Senior Member
I'd say LAX is pretty bad it seems like it's always under construction at some point. The first time i flew into it was in 2008 there was construction then. I flew into it in 2009, 2010 and 2011, also under construction. In 2019 I flew into it as well and its still under construction. It's like Union station in Toronto with another construction project starting before one finishes.
afransen
Senior Member
I watched them shove someone in a full leg cast through the body scanner. This person could barely stand.
EnviroTO
Senior Member
I also can't imagine what fortunes a person might have had in their travels to come to the conclusion that Pearson is one of the worst, or what measures they might even be using. Miami has 4-5 hours to get through customs on normal days... I got Nexus purely due to the torture of that. There are a tonne of airports in worse shape. Toronto seems to be able to maintain schedules fairly well compared to other airports. I remember when St.Louis was a hub and it seemed like that airport would start cancelling flights when clouds were spotted in distance because with no cross runways it had serious problems. Pittsburgh had serious freezing rain issues regularly through most of the winter due to the elevation and latitude and would have many delays (although they did a decent job of keeping things going). So many airports in the US were built like industrial warehouses that have no redeeming architectural qualities, and then they just slap paint and some of the most questionable carpet patterns one can imagine inside.
How is Pearson the worst and where do these people fly that believe so? They can't go to the US and most secondary airports outside China.
robmausser
Senior Member
I think its whats known as local bias.
Someone from here uses Pearson 50 times and they are bound to have 1 or 2 bad experiences. However unless they are going to the same location every time, and thus the same airport 50 times as well, they probably are only getting to visit other airports once or twice. So the odds are way more likely for a bad experience at Pearson. If they are a naturally pessimistic person they will forget the other 48 good experiences at Pearson and only remember the bad times.
gabe
Senior Member
If you're not from Toronto, it's not local basis. You’re allowed to have your likes and dislikes. Always remember we aren’t the same people and we don’t see things in the same way.
Toronto Maple Leafs are now avoiding Pearson Airport and flying out of Buffalo instead
Pearson Airport has been an absolute nightmare as people return to travelling by air, but it's become such a huge problem even one of our major sport…
www.blogto.com
Pearson Airport has been an absolute nightmare as people return to travelling by air, but it's become such a huge problem even one of our major sports teams is bypassing it completely.
Tim MacDonald
Senior Member
That's not why the Leafs are flying out of Buffalo. In Toronto they depart from a north end private facility, don't go through any of the terminals and it is a cushy experience for them compared to the rest of us stiffs that have to use Terminal 1 or 3.
The reason why the Leafs are going out of Buffalo is because of Covid testing. Crossing the border by vehicle negates are testing requirement that would need to be performed to get into the States. With playoffs upon us that is a big deal..
The reason why the Leafs are going out of Buffalo is because of Covid testing. Crossing the border by vehicle negates are testing requirement that would need to be performed to get into the States. With playoffs upon us that is a big deal..
PL1
Active Member
BlogTO isn't journalism. Take everything they write with a huge grain of salt!
Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
T3 needs a refresh or replacement. The only other physical thing I see missing from Pearson is an airside People mover so that passengers can move between t1 and t3 without leaving the secured area.
T1 may be reaching design capacity as well, and (hopefully) pier G relieves that constraint.
That said I don't think Pearson is THE WORST airport but i certainly don't think it's the best
T1 may be reaching design capacity as well, and (hopefully) pier G relieves that constraint.
That said I don't think Pearson is THE WORST airport but i certainly don't think it's the best
robmausser
Senior Member
If you're not from Toronto, it's not local basis. You’re allowed to have your likes and dislikes. Always remember we aren’t the same people and we don’t see things in the same way.
Toronto Maple Leafs are now avoiding Pearson Airport and flying out of Buffalo instead
Pearson Airport has been an absolute nightmare as people return to travelling by air, but it's become such a huge problem even one of our major sport…
Pearson Airport has been an absolute nightmare as people return to travelling by air, but it's become such a huge problem even one of our major sports teams is bypassing it completely.
I mean at the end of the day, Pearson continues to win awards in North America. What's going on right now is a temporary problem that many airports are currently facing.
Tim MacDonald
Senior Member
T3 is showing its age. I flew in on opening day back in 1991 and it took the gate agents ten minutes to position the jet bridge since it was the first time they were using driveable jet bridges. Compared to the small four belt customs hall at the old 1960s Terminal One, T3 felt heavenly to fly in/out of and work in. From the day it opened in 1991 until the GTAA was formed in 1996, it was the first privately owned air terminal in Canada. I remember when it had a mini Harrod's department store in what used to a departures shopping arcade near the old Canadian Airlines domestic check in area.
I'm not sure how much value there would be with a secure side people mover since that kind of terminal transit would usually involve customs, perhaps inbound, outbound (if going USA pre clearance) or both. I guess if you were travelling from charter to scheduled or vice versa you could make an argument for it but most connections would generally be in the same terminal based on carrier and airline alliance.
While it has undergone a number of expansions and renos in the last 31 years since opening, I found it still quite functional the last time I flew out of it in late 2018. However, like anything you try and stuff too much throughput, it will eventually break down and just become a cluster - 5 pounds of you know what in a 2 pound bag as the saying goes. The additional bottlenecks caused by covid screening and the unfilled CATSA positions make things worse than they actually are from a facility and operational standpoint. Get rid of that random screening business on international arrivals and get CATSA staffed for summer peak and it will move along like 2019.
PL1
Active Member
I flew out of T3 this morning at 10. Because of the horror stories, we arrived at 6:35. It took 15 min to get through security. It took longer to walk to zone 5/International (they redirected us from zone 3/Domestic, I presume to spread passengers between security checkpoints).
It's fine and it works. Yes, it could use some updating.
It's fine and it works. Yes, it could use some updating.
felix123
Active Member
I just flew out of CDG this past weekend. Would one of those reasons be the shuttle bus transfers between halls, even within the same terminal? Or the numerous security checkpoints between terminals/halls?
On the other hand, I thought the new AF La Première lounge in 2F was the nicest I'd been to. The only one I have enjoyed more was the Qantas Domestic Business lounge at SYD.
As for Pearson, it has the worst arrivals situation of any airport I have ever been to. I have flown from and to Pearson four times in the past month, to terminals 1 and 3. In all cases, on departure, the only reason I made my flight was because of the priority line, which is a ridiculous situation and grossly unfair to the majority that doesn't have access to it.
So yeah, it's awful. It's just... Chaotic. And there is that endless metering before you can disembark from your plane, followed by endless lines to speak to a border agent because they won't just install smart gates like most other airports have. But what strikes me more is that other airports within Canada aren't this bad. Therefore I think GTAA's own incompetence is to blame, even though they have been trying to deflect to the feds.
In normal times, I don't mind departure too much, though I find the security line is usually bad and among the rudest, which is hard to do considering the US airports should really be taking that award.