THUNDER BAY -- With hundreds of holiday travelers setting off for Christmas vacations. CEO Ed Schmidtke was thrilled to have everything running smoothly for one of the busiest days of the year at the Thunder Bay Airport.
According to Schmidtke, Dec. 21 isn't the busiest day of the year as Thanksgiving weekend holds that honour, but it is a hectic day for holiday travellers.
Despite the many travellers passing through, Schmidtke said there hadn't been any problems so far.
“All of the flights have been on time. Everybody has been in good humour. I don’t want to jinx it,” he said.
Airports have been in the international spotlight after London’s Gatwick Airport shut down for two days due to drone interference and although Thunder Bay doesn’t fly directly to the U.K., Schmitke said some connections could be impacted as a result.
“We encourage passengers to always stay connected with their airlines. We know what’s going with weather in Toronto and locally, but if you’re connecting past that, there may be other considerations that affect your flight.
The CEO also had some Christmas advice for travellers to ensure timely arrivals and departures.
“There has been a lot of positive and informative media coverage from airlines that have helped people organize and plan for the holidays. They’ve been showing up with fewer wrapped gifts, and they’ve showed up early and organized.”
The Lindstrom family, who were departing from Thunder Bay Friday afternoon, said they’ll be opening gifts in Switzerland for this year’s Christmas.
“We’re heading over to Switzerland for my father-in-law’s birthday,” said Andrew Lindstrom. “We go every three years, and we go to the same place every year.”
“We’ve travelled with my son and daughter before and the long plane ride… it can get entertaining.”
The three young children of the family, Lucas, Elin, and Wyatt, described the 15-hour plane ride as “boring,” but are expecting to open some exciting gifts in Switzerland.
When asked what they expect to unwrap, it was a laptop for Elin and a remote control car for Lucas.
As the new year approaches, Schmitke is looking back at some of the airport’s accomplishments from 2018.
“The construction project was a major highlight,” he said. “Passenger volumes have been flat in the fourth quarter after a robust first three quarters, so we’ll finish 2018 with an all-time high.
