Former National Hockey League (NHL) Player and former ice hockey defenseman from the US, Ryan Whitney was found lashing out at the authorities of the Toronto Pearson International Airport after he was stuck at the terminal for a day due to delayed flights. Whitney lent out his frustration through a series of tweets and a video of him making his way through the struggles at the airport.
I live at Toronto Pearson International airport. The worst place on earth. I smell so bad. pic.twitter.com/PfdnHcO7Ad
— Ryan Whitney (@ryanwhitney6) June 6, 2022
The Toronto International Airport has been witnessing flight delays and long waits for passengers since April, which has resulted in overcrowding of passengers at the airport who have to face administrative hurdles during their travel. According to the airport authorities, the problem has arisen due to understaffing of management at a time when the terminal is seeing approximately 45,000 international arrivals in a day.
Pearson airport is hell on earth. The worst of the worst. This is customs line to re enter Canada after I went through US customs 7 hours ago. pic.twitter.com/xoH7fnbvQz
— Ryan Whitney (@ryanwhitney6) June 6, 2022
The latest victim of the delayed flights is American ice-hockey player Ryan Whitney who had planned to travel from Edmonton in Canada to Boston in Massachusetts the last week. On Sunday, he faced a barrage of flight delays that made him stuck at the airport till the next morning. In the video uploaded on Twitter, which has gone viral, Whitney explains his helplessness to push through the hassles at the airport.
“I don’t even really know where to explain. I landed in Toronto around 3 PM on Sunday and spent three hours in line to get through customs, only to find that my flight to Boston has been cancelled. At this point now, I go and see that there’s about a ‘400-person line’ with about two Air Canada workers. There were a million cancelled flights and everyone was just panicking,” Whitney informed.
I’m still at Pearson International Airport.
— Ryan Whitney (@ryanwhitney6) June 6, 2022
After this, the player informed that he had to wait in line for six hours in getting assistance from Air Canada. However, in the midway, the counter was closed and the people were asked to seek help elsewhere. When Whitney, at 1 AM on Monday, got hang of the customer service from the company, he was refused to retrieve his bags. While he had planned to drive across the USA-Canada border as his next option, the flight operator informed that he had been booked for a new flight that was scheduled to leave from Toronto at 8 AM on Monday to Boston.
Not exaggerating I have never seen a crazier scenario at an airport. Pearson has about 100 cancelled flights and hundreds of people in lines with one air Canada worker at the end. There can’t be more than 5 people working here. I’m gonna have a viral meltdown this is not good
— Ryan Whitney (@ryanwhitney6) June 6, 2022
However, when Whitney reached to check-in through his rescheduled flight, he was informed at the counter that the company had in turn booked a different flight from Toronto to Montreal that would connect to Boston. While the flight was supposed to leave 50 minutes after reaching the counter, Whitney was thus denied access to it as he was ‘late’. The company had already failed to inform the player about the change in the schedule of the flight, which was already a replacement journey for him.
Whitney’s departure from the airport was again delayed until 10 AM on Monday. Finally, he was able to board a flight on Monday morning, after spending a day at the airport. He published a video on Twitter thanking his fans for the support and expressed his happiness while finally boarding a flight to Boston saying, “I’ve never been this happier!”
It’s over. I want to thank everyone for their Ts and Ps and the amazing chiclets listeners who reached out to help. Best fans on earth. The exact opposite of Pearson International Airport. God bless anyone who ever has to step foot in that hellhole pic.twitter.com/zH5tksOFFr
— Ryan Whitney (@ryanwhitney6) June 6, 2022
While speaking to Canadian news broadcaster CTV News Toronto, a spokesperson for Air Canada said, “long processing times at airports and other restrictions have resulted in flight delays and in some instances cancellations and these can have knock-on effects not only for our customers but can also impact our employee resources and operations. These factors, along with an issue with the airport’s baggage system Sunday, are what caused Mr Whitney’s original flight to be cancelled.”
Meanwhile, frustrated Ryan Whitney has said that the Toronto Pearson Airport has become ‘the biggest disgrace known to the man ever.”
