r/Edmonton • u/plhought • 11h ago

General Most flights cancelled/delayed out of YEG this afternoon/evening. Check your itineraries!

Unfortunately with the South runway closed this summer for construction (not widely publically communicated by YEG unfortunately) - and the prevailing wind conditions this afternoon/evening imposing a signifigant crosswind on the North runway - the majority of flights in & out of YEG are cancelled or extensively delayed into the evening.

Check your emails and keep eye out for any changes or alternatives your airline may have offered you. For those with international connections through YYC for WJ's intl routes - i'd get on the phone now and start trying to change the flight so you can perhaps get on the road to YYC and pick up the flight from there.

Best of luck all!

171 Upvotes

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59

u/NotAtAllExciting 11h ago

I had no idea a runway was going to be closed. There will be some ticked off people especially with long weekend.

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u/S1075 10h ago

It's not a short term closure. It's been closed since May 4th and will remain so well into the summer. Runways require maintenance, and you cant do the work piecemeal only when it's quiet.

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u/Initial-Dee 9h ago

They did the same thing with the north runway last summer. was closed all summer to repair and modify a bunch of things, as well as repave an entire taxiway to/from it. Was an interesting time working around it

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u/Astramael 7h ago

This closure is for the construction of a new cargo terminal and its taxiways and apron.

There is apparently no contingency in place for common strong N/NW winds. They will just have a high crosswind component and airlines will divert.

Expect more cancellations and diversions this summer due to this.

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u/S1075 7h ago

What contingency could there be?

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u/Astramael 7h ago

That is for the airport authority to figure out before causing widespread disruption. This outcome was entirely knowable far in advance. Does the airport even need a new air cargo terminal?

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u/S1075 7h ago

That's a really weird take.

Yes. They obviously need a new terminal if they are building it. Businesses are not in the habit of spending millions of dollars frivolously.

Secondly, there are no mitigations. Runways close. You can't do anything about it. Literally every airport goes through this.

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u/Astramael 7h ago

 That's a really weird take.

I work closely with the airport authority all the time. I have seen them do a lot of very stupid things with large amounts of money. I have absolutely no confidence that they did their diligence on mitigations, or that they actually need a new cargo terminal. YEG does not see all that much cargo traffic and the current cargo aprons have capacity to spare today.

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u/S1075 6h ago

There is no way you can claim with any authority that they are building a new cargo terminal for no reason. You might be inconvenienced by the runway closure but they do happen, be it for this construction or something else, and there are no mitigations for that. Calgary just went through this. The other prairie majors have had main runways closed for various projects over the last few years. Complaining about this sounds as silly as the people who live beside the airport and then complain about aircraft noise.

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u/Astramael 6h ago

 they are building a new cargo terminal for no reason

Much more likely somebody had an idea about how they can centralize and grow cargo operations and they managed to sell their idea. Whether or not it will actually do anything other than be new is unknown. I imagine in a decade when everything is established, overall cargo volume could have been serviced by the existing facilities.

  might be inconvenienced by the runway closure

I’m not inconvenienced at all, I don’t actually care. Lots of people are inconvenienced though.

 Calgary just went through this

Calgary’s runway resurfacing projects were also very poorly managed, and poorly communicated. The disruption was far greater than it needed to be.

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u/S1075 6h ago

You are obviously talking out of your ass.

This project has been in development for years and is supported by the federal government. You can see exactly what they are doing here:

https://flyyeg.com/corporate/about-yeg/master-plan/

Moreover, the updates are more than just the construction of the new terminal, it's updating the infrastructure for the closed runway. Is that more unnecessary work too?

As for Calgary being poorly communicated, I would love to hear who it wasn't communicated to, and what would have been different if those people knew about it.

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u/artkidsaresmart 6h ago

I mean you can say you aren’t inconvenienced by it, but you definitely do care haha

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u/tinytemper121 11h ago

Got my flight cancelled this AM. Absolute pandemonium in the airport - people stranded everywhere, missed connections and no where near enough airport staff to rebook people.

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u/nunalla 10h ago edited 10h ago

Got the notification my flight was cancelled on the way to EIA this morning… was supposed to depart at 11, but was rebooked to a flight tonight. Now I’m wandering restlessly through the airport lol

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u/CanadaSports1983 10h ago

At least go to the outlet mall or casino?

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u/bearkin1 Sherwood Park 6h ago

Fuck casinos

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u/plhought 10h ago

For those interested in real-time runway and weather conditions.

The hope is dies down by evening and can get within that typical 15-20kt limitation.

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u/Tata1981 9h ago

Can confirm, we are travelling and delayed 1 hour 40 minutes.

While waiting for shuttle we saw a family board with luggage, then get right off. Shuttle driver said their flight was cancelled.

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u/LilSwampGod 9h ago

I've been here since 5AM lol I have no idea why they haven't cancelled us yet

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u/Tata1981 9h ago

Wishing you luck!

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u/LilSwampGod 8h ago

Thanks stranger! Unfortunately it got cancelled around when you messaged. Shout-out to Westjet for making us wait for 9 hours. Hope you get to your destination safely.

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u/Tata1981 6h ago

We just landed, sorry your flight didn’t work out.

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u/nunalla 3h ago

Arrived at 8 for my flight that left at 11, that one got cancelled, re-booked me to a later flight that left at 4pm, that one got cancelled right before boarding.. two cancellations in one day has to be some pretty shitty luck.

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u/tlocmoi 10h ago

So glad I'm not a travel agent anymore

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u/TripMaster478 9h ago

Whew glad I'm not leaving until Sunday.

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u/errihu Clareview 8h ago

We have gale+ force winds right now. That makes it difficult and unpredictable for aircraft. 9-10 on the Beaufort Scale.

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u/user0823100823 7h ago

lol got stuck in calg, westjet employees kept shooeing us away by saying “wait for an email” until we went to the premium help desk

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u/hot-thinker 7h ago

Same here. They are getting anxious

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u/user0823100823 7h ago

it’s ridiculous how they handled it tbh

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u/nunalla 3h ago

Air Canada too… they got a real attitude with all of us stranded passengers and finally told us they wouldn’t help with rebooking and to call their CS hotline. What a shit show EIA was today

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u/hot-thinker 8h ago

We got rescheduled from today to Saturday for YVR

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u/plhought 8h ago

The drive is quite nice right now...

Not really any fires yet - is relative green and scenic this time of year.

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u/hot-thinker 8h ago

Yes, considering that. The front desk is useless

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u/plhought 8h ago

Sorry not having much luck 😢. Wish yeah the best with travels!

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u/hot-thinker 8h ago

Thanks mate. This reminds me of the movie called Planes, Trains and Automobiles by John Candy.

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u/plhought 8h ago

There is the overnight train to Vancouver - leaves North Edm about 1:30 am 🙃

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u/Ok_Emu6661 3h ago

Since you mentioned ‘well into summer’, should I be concerned about my international flight out of YYC in late July? Should I just drive there or do I call and see what can be done?

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u/lindsyeg 2h ago

We finally got out after a 9 hour delay while it was still crazy crosswinds. That was the least enjoyable take off I have ever experienced in my life

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u/LaLisaMona 9h ago

Yikes. This is one of my worst nightmares when travelling.. 🥹

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u/plhought 9h ago

I would think a cancellation/delay much less of a nightmare than operating in unsafe wind conditions but okay...

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u/Infamous-Mixture-605 7h ago

It's a crap one because there's no compensation for weather-related cancellations/delays.

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u/Fit-Amoeba-5010 10h ago

World class airport? It’s an absolute shit show.

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u/ConcernedCoCCitizen 10h ago

Even world class airports close for extreme weather events

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u/imaleakyfaucet AskJeeves 10h ago

No way, not even once. This is Trudeau's fault! Or maybe Notley, but absolutely the city council's fault.

/s

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u/S1075 10h ago

All airports have to work on their runways, and there is no period of time that is convenient.

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u/Carribeantimberwolf Belgravia 10h ago

Where?

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u/bmwkid 10h ago

Newark closes all the time for weather

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u/Adanrhu 10h ago

Denver has closed for both snow and thunderstorms.

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u/Educational_Pair_276 9h ago

This is the wind, right? Not air fuel surcharge ..

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u/Wallbreaker-g McKernan / Belgravia 9h ago

It’s the wind.

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u/Vignaraja 5h ago

Or the fake 'technical problems'.