Over the past six years, 27 complaints have been filed to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) at the Thunder Bay International Airport, including from one passenger who said they accidentally brought a knife through security.
Though some specific details have been redacted, the complaints — which were filed between February 2018 and December 2023 — illustrate some of the scenarios in which passengers took issue with their treatment by CATSA staff.
About 714,000 people traveled through the Thunder Bay airport last year, according to the airport's 2023 year-in-review report, meaning the percentage of passengers who filed a complaint is miniscule.
The incident involving the knife was reported in April 2019, according to the complaint form, and involved a passenger who identified themselves as "worried passenger" self-reporting the incident.
"After going through screening I sat down to wait for my boarding call and suddenly remembered I had a kitchen knife in my bag. I was [REDACTED] that I could get in trouble if I brought it on the plane, so returned it to the screening officers as soon as I noticed," said the complainant.
CBC News could not independently verify the events described in the complaints, which were obtained by filing an access to information request to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA).
"It makes me nervous to think what if it was someone else? What if it was someone who wanted to hurt other people?" said the complainant, who did not list a full name on the complaint and specified they did not want to be contacted.
Knives with blades under six centimetres are allowed in carry on baggage when flying within Canada and to certain international destinations other than the U.S., larger knives are not permitted.
The length of the kitchen knife is not specified in the complaint.
Airport screening and security is the responsibility of CATSA which is a crown corporation. It declined an interview request from CBC News but issued a statement instead.
"From January 1, 2017, to March 31, 2024, CATSA screened approximately 2,944,430 passengers at the Thunder Bay International Airport. The 26 complaints received by CATSA during this time represents a very small fraction (0.0008%) of the passengers screened," said CATSA in an emailed statement.
CATSA said that screening officers follow procedures in accordance with Transport Canada regulations.
"On occasion, a screening officer may make a mistake during the course of the screening process," the statement said.
Graham Ingham, the president and CEO of the Thunder Bay International Airport Authority, said airports rely on passenger feedback to make service improvements. Knowing about incidents like the one from 2019 involving a knife is valuable for airport officials, he said.
"I commend the individual who spoke up and gave that example because if you don't give those examples, then you don't have that opportunity to learn and improve your policies and procedures," said Ingham.
When considering that about 714,000 people traveled through the Thunder Bay airport in 2023, Ingham said the percentage of security breaches is miniscule.
"The traveling public should be very confident that security in Canada is very, very good," said Ingham. "I think they should have 100 per cent confidence in CATSA, in Thunder Bay."
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The airport itself does not have control of the security equipment or procedures and Ingham said that CASTA is updating and reviewing its procedures and equipment, even if it doesn't tell the public it is doing so, he said.
"They're constantly refining their policies, their processes, their equipment, their training. I have 100 per cent confidence in that," he said.
Very rare for prohibited items to get past security: expert
While smaller airports like Thunder Bay often have less sophisticated screening equipment than large airports, it is still very rare for prohibited items to make it through screening, said John Gradek, a faculty lecturer in the aviation management program at McGill University.
"These systems and these screening methods, it requires the human eye to examine the video or the image that's there. And occasionally, we're all human, sometimes we basically miss things. But that percentage of occurrences where we do miss things is very low," Gradek said.
The screening staff are frequently tested to make sure they're detecting prohibited items accurately, said Gradek. Employees that don't meet performance standards are quickly pulled off the line for refresher training, he said.
CATSA hires contractors to perform screening work at airports like Thunder Bay, said Gradek.
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Any company that receives too many complaints or doesn't meet safety performance standards at data reviews won't have their contract renewed, which provides multi-million dollar incentives for contractors to keep security tight, he said.
"In circ*mstances where a passenger's complaint is substantiated, CATSA has a robust remediation process that provides additional training and/or coaching to the screening officer to ensure that they apply screening procedures correctly," said the statement.
Other complaints detail confusion about screening process
Many of the complaints released to CBC News were categorized as relating to "screening procedures", "additional screening" and "conduct". A majority of complaints were partially redacted in the subject field, so it was not always possible to determine the complaint category.
Other complaints involved disagreements between passengers and staff over whether or not they were permitted to bring certain items on board, for example, one complainant was upset their mascara was subject to the liquid and gel limit.
"In my opinion mascara is neither a liquid or a gel," they said in their complaint.
Another record of a phone call from a passenger details a passenger's story about being delayed at check-in due to a disagreement between him and the staff about how much of a certain item he was allowed to bring.
While the name of the item is redacted, the record said that the passenger believed the allowable limit of that type of item to be five kilograms, while the screening agent believed it to be five pounds.
"Five pounds, five kilograms. What's the difference? You are opening that case," the passenger alleges the screening agent told him, though the luggage was ultimately allowed on board.
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Other complainants also said they felt unfairly targeted.
"Each and every time I and my Infant (REDACTED) get 'Randomly selected' for additional security screening. | feel this has become a targeted selection and not a 'Random' as they say," said a complaint.
The CASTA website has a list on their website where passengers can search for info about whether specific items can be brought on carry-on luggage. However, the website states "the final decision rests with the screening officer on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint."
"If you have a concern about what you see going through security, you have every right to ask for a CATSA supervisor," said Gradek.
There is also a formal complaint process available to passengers, he said.
