Toronto’s airport authority is still short on details of its planned review of last week’s Pearson airport shutdown, as calls mount for increased accountability of the agency that runs Canada’s busiest airport.

Pearson grappled with further delays this weekend when a software glitch slowed check-ins. The incident capped off a week that saw thousands of travellers stranded after North American landings were banned for more than eight hours Tuesday due to extreme cold.

The crisis sparked questions about oversight and transparency at the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, a private, not-for-profit entity that operates Pearson through a ground lease with the federal government.

“Ultimately, more transparency means more accountability,” said NDP transportation critic Olivia Chow. “There should always be more transparency because they pay a lot of money to the federal government.”

GTAA chief executive officer Howard Eng has also faced criticism for refusing to speak to the public for the first two days of the crisis while he was in Edmonton on a vague “business trip.” For the fifth day Monday, a spokesman refused to provide his itinerary.

Eng, who made $712,138 in 2012 including incentives, broke his silence last Thursday, saying he had been managing the crisis over the phone from Edmonton. He has promised to make public the GTAA’s part of its review of the shutdown, reversing the authority’s earlier plans to keep it secret.

Spokesman Scott Armstrong said Monday the GTAA is still looking at how to conduct the review, including what will be covered and who will be involved. He said he hopes to share details on timing shortly.

The review is expected to include closed-door meetings between the authority, airlines and companies that employ ground handlers. Liberal transportation critic David McGuinty called on the authority to make these meetings open to the public.

“I don’t see any reason why this couldn’t be held in an open fashion,” he said. “Most people in Toronto think the GTAA belongs to them — not in a literal sense, but in a figurative sense. It’s their airport. . . . I think they’ll want to see it improved as well.”

Airports in Canada were commercialized in the 1980s with the hopes of making them more competitive. Authorities like the GTAA assumed responsibility for financial management and operations of airports by virtue of a long-term ground lease with Transport Canada.

This stands in contrast with some airports in the U.S., which are managed by local port authorities. The U.S. has also moved toward new consumer protection laws, including hefty fines for extended tarmac delays that have cut the number of such delays drastically.

Spokeswoman Roxane Marchand said Transport Canada has a well-defined set of safety and security regulations, and conducts regular inspections. In this case, the ministry will examine the airport authority’s findings after it conducts its review and respond as required, she said.

Toronto’s airport authority is governed by a 15-member board. Two members are appointed by the federal government and one member — the chair — is appointed by the province. The rest are appointed by the board itself.

The board will be responsible for disciplining Eng, should it choose to do so. The Star attempted to reach several board members, including chair Vijay Kanwar, over the last few days, but phone calls and emails were not returned.

However, some municipal leaders are calling for changes to the board’s appointment process. The five regions in the Greater Toronto Area have “representatives” on the board, but they do not have the power to appoint those members. The regions put forward three nominations and the board may pick one.

But the board also has the power to reject the nominations and appoint a representative of its choice — a process that must change, said Halton chair Gary Carr.

“Toronto is a world-class city, but during this whole incident, our airport authority was not world-class,” he said. “We’d like to see some of these things changed so we can make sure we learn from this and it never happens again.”

He said Halton’s GTAA representative does make a presentation at a regional council meeting every year. But in this case, Eng has agreed to Carr’s request that he speak at a public meeting once the review has been published.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Carr received a phone call from Eng on Monday, as did Durham chair Roger Anderson and Peel chair Emil Kolb. For his part, Anderson agreed the process should be changed so the board does not have the power to reject nominees.

Kolb, on the other hand, said he did not have a problem with the current process and he meets with his board representative three times a year.

“We have been happy with our appointees, they’ve served well,” he said. “We’ve had a very positive working relationship.”

The GTAA publishes its annual reports, financial data, strategic plan and statistics on its website. But as a private entity, it is not included under federal access-to-information legislation, meaning the public cannot request documents the authority chooses to keep secret.

Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said Monday morning the airline expected to take part in an upcoming review — as it does with any irregular operation — but had no further information at that time.

Later that afternoon, WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer confirmed the airline had received an invitation from the GTAA to participate in the review. He was unable to say whether WestJet would make its part of the review public.