toronto airport

People are now complaining about a lack of lineups at Toronto's Pearson Airport

Anyone planning to jet off from Toronto Pearson International Airport knows by now to arrive many hours prior to their flight — at least two for domestic and three for international, authorities suggest — due to ongoing staffing issues and other delays plaguing the travel hub.

But, amid seemingly endless horror stories from people who've been stuck at check-in, customs, security or even on planes on the tarmac for hours, there is a new set of complaints arising on social media from those who are annoyed that they got to the airport too early and ended up with too much time to kill.

A select few have indeed been grumbling about the fact that they took the general advice to anticipate huge waits and get to the airport far earlier than they would have pre-COVID, only to get through in a matter of minutes.

Some have even been thwarted by airport personnel, arriving too far in advance of their flight to check their bags or go through security screening (or before security was even open for the day).

And others, after getting through quickly and hassle-free, found that so much extra time made for a new set of concerns; common among them, getting too drunk at the airport bar before departure.

The disparity between the amout of time passengers were told to allot to the process and the actual time spent checking in and getting through checkpoints has been huge in cases, it seems, with some citing that it took just minutes to get through to their gate.

While many seem irritated, others are staying positive, and rightfully apprecitive of the fact that the airport didn't turn out to be as much of a mess as they'd anticipated, especially when others are missing connecting flights or becoming too scared to even fly via Pearson at all.

The hilarious non-issue is also extending to Torontonians elsewhere in the world who, used to dealing with the infuriating lines and delays that have become the norm at Pearson, have headed to catch flights at other international airports far too prematurely as well.

Lead photo by

Jack Landau


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in Travel

20 family-friendly day trips from Toronto to take before the cold weather arrives

Canadians can now cash in on $12.5 million WestJet baggage fee settlement

Here's the problem with Canadian airline Flair's new on-time guarantee

Woman says she was harassed by WestJet crew on Canadian flight

Canada is ending its automatic 10-year multiple-entry visa policy

Canada warns to avoid travel to popular spots in Cuba

Here's what the expansion of Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport will look like

Toronto will soon have new weekly flights to beautiful global destinations