The continuing Air Canada walk out has left many more families stranded in St. John’s. Now their plans for the Canada Games are in shambles. Team Saskatchewan player Joe Lippai dealt with unanticipated logistical travel surprises. He grapples with all of these challenges with the help of his wife and daughter. The family was excitedly looking forward to departing St. John’s on Thursday following Joe’s last game. They found themselves in limbo as the team arranged charter flights to bring all the players back to their respective homes.
The disruption began when the airline and the union representing over 10,000 flight attendants went on strike, causing significant delays in air travel. For William Lippai, finding out that their Sunday flight was cancelled didn’t come until after the end of Joe’s final game on Saturday. The family had initially purchased a flight Wednesday morning. The strike made them change their travel plans to Thursday instead.
Along with the associated infrastructure development, the Canada Games will mean an influx of up to 5,000 people into and out of St. John’s on any given day. That makes for a complicated picture that requires extensive foresight and alignment. Kelly-Ann Paul, an organizer for the event, exclaimed “The timing of this happening on the eve of our turnaround day is like winning the lottery… It’s like getting hit by lightning!
At one point, Joe Lippai’s family even looked into alternate travel routes, such as taking a ferry to Nova Scotia to board a flight. They eventually rejected this option because of long sailing times and port challenges. At the same time, many families flying with WestJet were able to depart on Sunday as planned.
William Lippai, an affected family member who submitted comments on the proposed plan, lamented what he referred to as “a giant hurdle” for families hoping to attend the games. He readily admitted that they were on notice of a likely strike at least a week before the trip. They decided to proceed, calling it “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
When things took those unexpected turns, organizers from the Canada Games stepped up. They worked valiantly to charter in teams from Ontario and Quebec whose schedules were thrown into chaos by the strike. We are glad flights have finally resumed on Tuesday afternoon after three days of disruption—and more importantly, we hope many of these people are now heading home.
