4 ms·

Pearson Airport in Toronto is voted one of the worst airports in North America. They routinely lose your baggage, delay the flights indefinitely, people have to

Pearson Airport in Toronto is voted one of the worst airports in North America. They routinely lose your baggage, delay the flights indefinitely, people have to sleep on the floor, etc. - totally dysfunctional airport. This problem is not new - it has persisted for years. Finally, they found a solution: throw AI at it! Here's the announcement: https://www.narcity.com/how-pearson-airport-air-canada-new-ai-technology-could-impact-your-flight https://www.narcity.com/how-pearson-airport-air-canada-new-a... And now, this meta thing... :-)

xwowsersx 4y ago
I'm not sure how airport logistics work, but isn't it the airlines that lose your luggage, as opposed to the airport itself? If that's right (I'm not sure it is) then it would seem unfair to criticize the airport for implementing facial recognition for boarding your flight. They are two different things — there's the airline issues and then airport-wide issues, no? Happy to be corrected.
- resource0x 4y ago
  I don't know who is responsible for what, but in this particular instance, they work in tandem to create the most stressful experience for the passengers. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2056928835691 https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2056928835691 https://www.gominplanet.com/blog/air-canada-the-worst-airline-in-the-world https://www.gominplanet.com/blog/air-canada-the-worst-airlin... My advice to anyone using Air Canada: upon arrival to the destination, don't waste time trying to find your suitcase on the carousel (it's not there anyway) - instead, go directly to the kiosk to complain about the lost luggage , otherwise you will have to stand in line for 2 hours. :-)
  - xwowsersx 4y ago
    Yikes, this sounds awful
- JohnFen 4y ago
  I always thought that baggage handling at the airport itself was done by the airport as one of the services it provides to airlines.
barbazoo 4y ago
"AI" It's facial recognition.
Insanity 4y ago
Pearson is not the worst but depends on destination. (International flights have a nicer terminal, but national flight has been some years). That said, Air Canada (also mentioned in the article) is also investing in AI while their default online booking process is still quite bad. Last time I wanted to book a flight with a pet, the website told me to book the flight without pet, then make a phone call to tell them I would be taking a pet with me (and cost would then depend on destination) just like two decades ago. So I decided to use KLM and booked my flight, with pet, all through the website without needing a phone call.
- sixstringtheory 4y ago
  The one and only time I’ve flown out of Pearson internationally to go back home, it was in the top three worst airport experiences I’ve ever had out of hundreds of international and domestic trips, and the other two were understandably due to weather, while this was a gorgeous day with no delays. Security took me almost three hours to get through, and they had a byzantine system where once you got to the end of what you thought was the entire line, you’d turn a corner to find another long one, and that happened six times. It basically devolved into a system where it was just a huge crowd standing around, and as peoples’ flights were about to board they’d get moved to the front. It reminded me of the freakonomics episode where they talk about the LIFO queue: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-are-you-waiting-for/ https://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-are-you-waiting-for/
notfed 4y ago
From the article "Pearson Airport's AI system is used during airport security to detect dangerous or prohibited items." Uh, ok, I thought all airports have already been doing this for decades? One time I got pulled aside because the scanner thought my chocolate bar was a bomb.

xwowsersx 4y ago

I'm not sure how airport logistics work, but isn't it the airlines that lose your luggage, as opposed to the airport itself? If that's right (I'm not sure it is) then it would seem unfair to criticize the airport for implementing facial recognition for boarding your flight. They are two different things — there's the airline issues and then airport-wide issues, no? Happy to be corrected.

resource0x 4y ago
I don't know who is responsible for what, but in this particular instance, they work in tandem to create the most stressful experience for the passengers. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2056928835691 https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2056928835691 https://www.gominplanet.com/blog/air-canada-the-worst-airline-in-the-world https://www.gominplanet.com/blog/air-canada-the-worst-airlin... My advice to anyone using Air Canada: upon arrival to the destination, don't waste time trying to find your suitcase on the carousel (it's not there anyway) - instead, go directly to the kiosk to complain about the lost luggage , otherwise you will have to stand in line for 2 hours. :-)
- xwowsersx 4y ago
  Yikes, this sounds awful
JohnFen 4y ago
I always thought that baggage handling at the airport itself was done by the airport as one of the services it provides to airlines.

barbazoo 4y ago

"AI" It's facial recognition.

Insanity 4y ago

Pearson is not the worst but depends on destination. (International flights have a nicer terminal, but national flight has been some years). That said, Air Canada (also mentioned in the article) is also investing in AI while their default online booking process is still quite bad. Last time I wanted to book a flight with a pet, the website told me to book the flight without pet, then make a phone call to tell them I would be taking a pet with me (and cost would then depend on destination) just like two decades ago. So I decided to use KLM and booked my flight, with pet, all through the website without needing a phone call.

sixstringtheory 4y ago
The one and only time I’ve flown out of Pearson internationally to go back home, it was in the top three worst airport experiences I’ve ever had out of hundreds of international and domestic trips, and the other two were understandably due to weather, while this was a gorgeous day with no delays. Security took me almost three hours to get through, and they had a byzantine system where once you got to the end of what you thought was the entire line, you’d turn a corner to find another long one, and that happened six times. It basically devolved into a system where it was just a huge crowd standing around, and as peoples’ flights were about to board they’d get moved to the front. It reminded me of the freakonomics episode where they talk about the LIFO queue: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-are-you-waiting-for/ https://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-are-you-waiting-for/

notfed 4y ago

From the article "Pearson Airport's AI system is used during airport security to detect dangerous or prohibited items." Uh, ok, I thought all airports have already been doing this for decades? One time I got pulled aside because the scanner thought my chocolate bar was a bomb.