Travelers passing through Toronto Pearson International Airport on February 13, 2026, are facing a fresh wave of disruption, as a cluster of cancellations and widespread delays ripple across key leisure and regional routes. At least 13 flights have been cancelled and around 100 have been delayed, affecting services operated by WestJet, Air Canada, Jazz, Air Canada Rouge, Air France and other carriers. Popular sun destinations such as Cancun, Varadero, Nassau and Cayo Coco, along with Charlottetown and other Canadian cities, are among the routes most heavily impacted, leaving holidaymakers and business travelers alike grappling with missed connections, rebookings and long queues.
What Is Happening at Toronto Pearson Today
Operational systems at Canada’s busiest airport are once again under pressure, with real-time data showing a concentration of delays building through the late morning and afternoon bank of departures. While Toronto Pearson continues to process the majority of its schedule, a subset of flights has been cancelled outright and many more are departing behind schedule, creating a ripple effect that stretches from Atlantic Canada across the Caribbean and into major European gateways.
According to flight status boards and airport updates, at least 13 flights linked to carriers including WestJet, Air Canada, Jazz, Air Canada Rouge and Air France have been scrubbed from the schedule. Around 100 additional services are operating late, some by less than an hour, others by more than 90 minutes. The bulk of the disruption is centered on short and medium haul flights, particularly those bound for beach resorts in Mexico and Cuba or serving smaller Canadian communities that depend heavily on a limited number of daily services.
For airlines, the pattern represents a familiar but unwelcome challenge: crews and aircraft falling out of sync with tightly timed rotations. Once a delay is introduced on an early sector, it can cascade through the day unless there is spare capacity to reset the operation. For passengers, the impact is more immediate, ranging from missed hotel nights and tour bookings in the Caribbean to lost workdays and family events in Charlottetown and other Canadian cities.
Key Routes Affected: From Charlottetown to the Caribbean
The disruption is remarkable in its geographical spread. On the domestic side, services linking Toronto Pearson with Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, have come under strain, a particular blow to travelers in smaller markets that have fewer alternative options. Even a single cancellation on such a route can significantly constrain same day recovery, forcing passengers into overnight stays or long detours via other hubs.
Southbound travelers face an equally unsettled picture. Flights to Cancun and Varadero, two of the most sought after winter escapes for Canadian travelers, have encountered cancellations and lengthy delays. Similar issues are reported on services to Nassau and Cayo Coco, both key nodes in the region’s all inclusive resort network. For many passengers, these flights are tied to fixed check in windows at hotels and pre arranged ground transfers, magnifying the disruption when departure times slip by several hours.
The knock on effects are not confined to a single carrier. WestJet operations on sun routes have experienced both cancellations and late departures, while Air Canada and its regional partner Jazz have reported issues on transborder and domestic services feeding into the same departure waves. Air Canada Rouge, which focuses heavily on leisure markets, is also part of the disruption picture on certain Caribbean and Mexican routes. An isolated cancellation and delay within the Air France schedule further underline that the turbulence is touching long haul links into Europe as well.
Airlines Under Strain: WestJet, Air Canada, Jazz and Air France
WestJet appears among the most visibly affected carriers at Toronto Pearson today, with multiple departures either cancelled or operating significantly behind schedule. The airline’s network strategy, which leans heavily on moving Canadians to sun destinations during the winter peak, means that any operational pinch at Pearson quickly shows up on high demand routes such as Varadero, Cancun and Cayo Coco. Even where flights have departed, airport and tracker data reveal late pushbacks and extended departure queues.
Air Canada, together with its regional affiliate Jazz, is simultaneously contending with its own share of disruption. Between mainline and regional operations, these carriers handle a substantial proportion of scheduled movements at Pearson, from short hops to Atlantic Canada and the northeastern United States, to key sun routes and onward connections to Europe and South America. When Air Canada or Jazz flights fall behind schedule, the effect can propagate across multiple waves of connecting traffic, particularly for travelers relying on a single day connection from a small Canadian origin to a Caribbean destination.
Air France’s presence in the current wave of disruption is smaller but symbolically important. A cancellation and delay affecting its service between Toronto and Paris Charles de Gaulle highlight that long haul transatlantic travel is not fully insulated from the operational turbulence. For passengers relying on connections in Paris to cities across Europe, North Africa or the Middle East, a late arrival or short notice cancellation in Toronto can mean missed onward flights and involuntary overnight stays in connecting hubs.
Why This Turmoil Matters for Winter Sun Seekers
The timing of these cancellations and delays is particularly painful for winter sun travelers. February is peak season for Canadians fleeing subzero temperatures for Caribbean beaches and warm weather resorts in Mexico and Cuba. Flights to Cancun, Varadero, Nassau and Cayo Coco typically operate at or near full capacity, with many passengers on package holidays that include tightly coordinated flight, transfer and hotel components. When a departure is delayed or cancelled, rebooking large numbers of passengers on alternative flights at short notice can be extremely challenging.
Moreover, many of the affected routes from Toronto Pearson to Caribbean islands and Cuban beach enclaves are operated only once daily, or on limited frequencies. That means a same day re accommodation option may not exist, particularly when several services to the same region are disrupted in parallel. Travelers may find themselves redirected via secondary hubs, facing overnight layovers, or in some cases compelled to shorten or postpone their trips altogether.
For destination communities and resort operators, the knock on effect is tangible. Late arriving passengers can miss planned excursion days, special events or even entire weekend stays, cutting into local tourism revenues. Meanwhile, resort front desks and travel representatives are left to manage a surge of last minute arrival changes and anxious inquiries from guests uncertain about when they will actually reach their booked property.
Passenger Experience: Long Queues, Uncertainty and Frayed Nerves
Inside the terminals at Toronto Pearson, the human impact of the disruption is written across long check in lines, busy airline service counters and crowded gate areas. Travelers bound for Charlottetown, Cancun, Varadero, Nassau and Cayo Coco report being asked to stand by for rolling departure time updates, sometimes with only vague estimates of how long the delay might last. Families with young children and older travelers appear particularly affected, as what was planned as a morning departure turns into an all day airport wait.
Uncertainty is a recurring theme in passenger accounts. Flight status boards may show updated departure times, but these can shift multiple times as crews are repositioned, aircraft are reassigned or weather and traffic conditions evolve. Where cancellations occur, customers often find themselves competing for limited seats on subsequent departures, both on the same airline and on rival carriers willing to accept rebooked passengers. Hotel reservations and ground transportation at destination frequently have to be amended on the fly, often involving additional out of pocket costs.
Communication quality varies by carrier and itinerary. Some passengers receive timely text and app notifications about schedule changes, while others learn of delays only upon arriving at the airport. The difference can be crucial. Travelers with early notice may be able to adjust their airport arrival time, explore alternative itineraries or at least mentally prepare for a longer day. Those who discover the disruption at the terminal itself often express greater frustration, citing a sense of lost control and a lack of clear information on their options.
How Airlines and the Airport Are Responding
Airlines operating at Toronto Pearson have activated a mix of standard disruption playbooks and ad hoc measures to manage today’s turmoil. These include rebooking passengers on later flights within their own networks, arranging interline transfers to partner carriers where possible, and in some cases consolidating lightly loaded services to free up aircraft for oversubscribed routes. Gate agents and call center staff are working through long queues of change requests, prioritizing customers facing missed connections or time sensitive travel needs.
At the airport level, operational teams are focused on keeping the flow of aircraft, baggage and passengers moving as efficiently as possible despite the irregular schedule. Ground handling crews have had to adjust staffing plans to cope with bunching in departure and arrival banks, as flights that were supposed to be staggered across the day cluster into narrower windows. Security screening and customs lines fluctuate in tandem, at times producing visible bottlenecks as delayed flights suddenly depart in quick succession.
While the root causes of the current disruption vary from flight to flight, the overall response underscores the fragility of winter schedules that operate close to capacity. Even modest weather issues, air traffic control constraints, or technical snags can escalate quickly when there is little slack in aircraft and crew availability. The complexity of coordinating multiple carriers across shared gates and runways further raises the bar for restoring normal flow once irregular operations take hold.
Practical Advice for Travelers Moving Through Pearson
For travelers scheduled to fly through Toronto Pearson over the next 24 hours, vigilance and flexibility are essential. The most immediate recommendation is to monitor flight status closely using airline apps, text alerts or the airport’s information channels, starting well before leaving for the airport. Conditions can change quickly, and early awareness of a delay or cancellation gives passengers more room to adjust their plans or explore alternative itineraries before options are exhausted.
Arriving earlier than usual is advisable on days like this, particularly for those connecting onward to destinations such as Charlottetown, Cancun, Varadero, Nassau or Cayo Coco. Extra time can help absorb the impact of longer check in, security and boarding processes, which tend to slow when disruption affects multiple banks of flights. Passengers should also travel with essential medications, chargers, snacks and entertainment in their carry on baggage, anticipating the possibility of extended waits in the terminal or on board.
Where possible, travelers might consider proactive rebooking if their itineraries involve tight connections or itineraries with limited daily frequencies. Speaking with airline agents as soon as a significant delay appears likely can sometimes open up rerouting options via alternative hubs or carriers, whereas waiting until a flight is officially cancelled can leave fewer seats available. Those on package holidays should keep in close contact with their tour operators or travel advisors, who may be able to coordinate adjustments to hotel check in times and ground transfers.
Looking Ahead: Resilience and the Winter Travel Outlook
Today’s turmoil at Toronto Pearson fits into a broader pattern of winter pressure on Canadian aviation, which has seen successive waves of disruption across major hubs in recent weeks. Snowstorms, strong winds and frigid temperatures have combined with tightly packed schedules to push airlines and airports toward the limits of operational resilience. While each day’s circumstances are unique, the cumulative effect on traveler confidence is starting to show, with more passengers building extra buffer days into their itineraries or purchasing flexible tickets to hedge against last minute changes.
For airport and airline planners, the current episode serves as another reminder of the importance of robust contingency planning. Investments in deicing capacity, ground handling equipment, crew scheduling systems and real time passenger communication tools all play a role in reducing the severity and duration of irregular operations. Partnerships between carriers and the airport authority will be crucial in smoothing coordination when multiple airlines are caught in the same disruption window, as is the case today.
In the near term, travelers can expect continued pockets of volatility at Toronto Pearson as airlines work to realign aircraft and crews and clear the backlog of disrupted itineraries. The hope among both carriers and customers is that conditions will stabilize heading into late February and March, allowing the remainder of the winter sun season to unfold with fewer shocks. For now, however, anyone planning to fly to or from Toronto Pearson would be wise to build flexibility into their plans and prepare for the possibility that their journey may take longer than expected.