‘Avoid that stress’: Tips for travelling during the summer months

It’s been over a week since the WestJet mechanics strike ended; however, the airline is still feeling the impact as cancellations continued this past weekend.

As issues like this persist with air travel, there are steps travellers can take to make the journey a little less stressful.

According to Michel Rosset with the Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA), people need to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport — no matter what airline they are flying.

“Just to make sure everything is still running on time, there are no delays or there are no cancellations,” he said in an interview with CTV Morning Live on Monday.

Rosset noted that summer is the busiest time for the Winnipeg airport, adding the WAA expects 830,000 travellers this summer.

“[This] is on par with what we saw in 2019 before the pandemic,” he said.

“So a busy time and we are excited to welcome everybody through the terminal.”

To deal with this business, Rosset recommends arriving early to the airport as you’ll likely encounter higher volumes of passengers.

He said if you’re flying within Canada, you should arrive two hours before your flight, and if you’re flying internationally you should arrive three hours early.

Rosset added you should also double-check the airline’s policies when it comes to luggage. This includes following rules surrounding bringing liquids, gels and aerosols, as well as the size and weight of the baggage.

“We’ve all seen it when we’re travelling through the airport, families who are scrambling to weigh their bags and move things from one bag to the other to make sure it makes weight,” he said.

“Avoid that stress the day-of. Make sure you weigh your bags, they’re properly backed before you leave home.”

– With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagace.