Passengers left waiting as scheduling error leaves Whitehorse airport with no security staff

James Minifie was among several passengers planning to catch an Air North flight from Whitehorse to Calgary on Saturday morning.

But just over 30 minutes before his flight, he still hadn't passed through security because no staff were present. 

Over text, Minifie said the flight was delayed, which caused some of his fellow passengers to miss connections in Calgary and that he nearly missed his own.

Benjamin Ryan, a representative with Air North, told CBC News the airline had to make multiple calls to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) to get security staff in place so the flight could board. 

CATSA is the Crown corporation that schedules security at the airport checkpoint. Suzanne Perseo, a spokesperson for CATSA, said in an email that CATSA staffs security based on flight schedules received in advance, and had no knowledge of the 6:30 a.m. flight to Calgary on Saturday.

"At 5:35 a.m., we were made aware of an unscheduled flight that was set to depart Whitehorse at 6:30 a.m," she said. "Attempts were made to get staff to the checkpoint as early as possible thereafter and all passengers were screened by 7:15 a.m."

The flight then departed an hour and 20 minutes late.

Ryan said the Saturday morning flight to Calgary is part of Air North's weekly schedule in the summer.

"There's no kind of indication on our end that there's any reason they wouldn't have planned for this flight."

He said he's seen similar occurrences, but they're rare. 

Air North will meet with representatives from the airport and CATSA on Monday to discuss how the scheduling error came about and how similar mistakes can be prevented.