A $40 million action plan will add new staff, improve training, better leverage technology, increase communication, and invest in additional equipment to keep more aircraft moving and passengers well informed. This plan follows a comprehensive After-Action Review of the December 17-28, 2022 travel disruption at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) as well as direct feedback from over 1,500 passengers and members of the public.
“While the review confirms our safety promise was kept, it shows that our customer service commitment was not,” said Tamara Vrooman, President and CEO of Vancouver Airport Authority. “Passengers clearly told us that, while they recognize aviation is a complex ecosystem of different partners and players, they want YVR to take a leading role in providing more information, better access to front-line staff, and other improvements in times of extreme travel disruption — this action plan provides our roadmap for doing just that.”
The review highlights both the changing realities of passenger and aircraft traffic post-COVID as well as the impacts of climate change and more extreme weather events. This puts additional strain on airside services including aprons, gates, and ground handling. While these services perform well during regular operations, the systems and processes our airport community has historically relied on must be made more resilient and adaptable for more frequent and extreme weather disruptions.
The five key focus areas, with a total of 25 supporting actions, outlined in the review include: