Air Canada is experiencing an issue with one of its internal systems, leading to flight delays across its network.
According to The Toronto Star, this is the second time this week that the airline has had technical issues causing flight delays and cancellations across the country.
In a statement to CTVNews.ca, the Montreal-based company said it was experiencing a “temporary technical issue” with the system it uses to communicate with aircraft and monitor the performance of its operations.
More than 190 of its flights were delayed, according to Flight Aware. Some 28 Air Canada flights were canceled on Thursday, as of 13:30 EST (18:30 BST).
The cancellations affected flights to and from Air Canada’s hub at Toronto Pearson International, as well as Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal.
By Thursday afternoon, the situation was beginning to stabilize, even though passengers can expect to have flights impacted through the rest of the day.
“The communicator system has begun to stabilize, and aircraft continue to move although still at a lower-than-normal rate. As a result, customers may experience delays and in some instances cancellations as we move through recovery,” Air Canada said.
“Customers are advised to check the status of their flight before going to the airport as we anticipate the impact will persist through the balance of the day.”
Speaking at a media scrum on Thursday, Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said his office and Transport Canada officials were in touch with Air Canada and that the airline said it will compensate passengers impacted by the technical issue.
“Air Canada has obligations to passengers who are impacted because this is caused by things that the airline has control over,” Alghabra said.
