While passengers stranded at Pearson International Airport are finally getting their journeys back on track, airport officials are defending how they handled the effects of the extreme cold.
Talking to CP24 on Thursday, Greater Toronto Airports Authority spokesperson Shereen Daghstani said officials were closely monitoring the weather, but coping with such intense cold was challenging.
"To the extent and to the extremity that it was, it was difficult to manage," Daghstani said, adding that GTAA officials, "were on full patrol of what was going on and understanding what the impact would be to operations."
The GTAA has faced criticism in recent days, particularly over its decision to issue a “ground stop” that halted traffic at the airport on Tuesday.
Critics have pointed to other frigid Canadian cities such as Winnipeg where air travel continues despite temperatures that are as cold, or colder.
During the ground stop at Pearson, airport officials said the move was necessary because equipment was freezing and the conditions were too extreme for outside workers to do their jobs.
When the wind chill makes it feel like -40 C, as it did earlier in the week, exposed skin can freeze in as little as five to ten minutes.
Flights are coming and going from the airport again Thursday, but the backlog of cancelled and delayed flights has officials advising travellers to check the flights schedule before heading to the airport.
