Flights cancelled, delayed amid work dispute at Toronto Pearson

[TORONTO] About 70 flights in and out of Toronto Pearson International Airport have been canceled due to a dispute between airlines and their fueling company.

There have been 31 departing flights canceled as of 10:05 am, along with almost 40 inbound flights, according to the airport's website.

"It's hard to predict" how long the disruptions will last as the dispute is between the airlines and the fueling company, Shabeen Hanifa, a spokeswoman for the airport, said in a phone interview on Friday.

"We're supporting on our end and managing the terminal and airfields."

The dispute is between the airlines and Consolidated Aviation Fueling Toronto, a unit of closely held Allied Aviation Services Inc, based in New York.

Dozens of departing flights at Air Canada, the largest airline operator in the nation, had been canceled or delayed starting at 6:30 am, to destinations including Montreal, Ottawa, New York and Philadelphia, according to the airport website.

Air Canada declined 0.7 per cent to C$13.41 at 9:58 am in Toronto trading.

Messages left with Robert Rose, president at Allied Aviation, and Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesman at Air Canada, were not immediately returned.

The airlines and Pearson Airport had discussions in the days leading up to the cancellations, Ms Hanifa said. Additional staff have been brought in to work at the airport today.

More than 400,000 flights arrive and depart from the airport each year, carrying more than 38.6 million passengers, according to the website for Canada's busiest airport.

BLOOMBERG