Travellers Face Delays

TORONTO, ON -- - Travellers across the country were facing major delays Friday as Ontario's major transport systems started to recover from the massive power blackout.

Air Canada said it cancelled all flights out of Toronto until at least 4 p.m. Friday, saying the impact would be felt nationwide and affect all of the airline's flights.

Laura Cooke, spokeswoman for Air Canada, said all flights currently in the air would continue to their destinations but from that point on, nothing was guaranteed.

"The question is will they be able to depart?" she said.

Emergency backup power was lost Friday morning in the airline's "nerve centre" - the operational centre where flights are planned, fuel is calculated for planes and flight crews are put together, Cooke said.

"The situation is still somewhat fragile," she said.

"The operation system is here in Toronto but it affects flights across the system, so no matter where you are in the country, if you're travelling today, check the airline before you go to the airport."

By noon Friday, airports in Toronto and elsewhere were seriously congested.

"Pearson is very busy and I know airports across the country are too. We just don't want to contribute further to that situation," Cooke said.

The airline's power failure came just hours after Air Canada announced it had planned to resume service to Toronto, Ontario communities and cities in the northeastern U.S. following the blackout.

"To facilitate rebooking customers on affected flights, Air Canada is waiving change fees for customers with restricted tickets," the airline said. Customers who made their original reservation through a travel agent should return to the agent for rebooking.

With electrical power returning to many parts of southwestern and eastern Ontario, Via Rail Canada said it expected to operate all regular passenger trains on the following routes: Windsor-London-Brantford-Toronto, Sarnia-London-Kitchener-Toronto, Niagara Falls-Toronto, Toronto-Kingston-Ottawa and Toronto-Kingston-Montreal.

"Via has been making every effort to minimize delays and inconvenience to its passengers," the passenger service said in a release.

"However, trains on all the above-mentioned routes are expected to incur some delays, as track-maintenance personnel work to bring all circuits controlling the signalling and track control systems back on line throughout the day."

Service on the Montreal-Quebec City route remains unaffected.

The Toronto Transit Commission said early Friday it will operate only limited service until further notice. No subway or rapid-transit vehicles were in operation, and only some streetcars, leaving only TTC buses running regularly.

"Premier Ernie Eves has declared an emergency and has recommended that non-essential staff should stay at home," the transit service said. "The TTC encourages residents to limit their travel until the emergency has been resolved."