My wife and daughter flew into Saint John from Toronto last night, and, even by Saint John standards, the fog was very dense.
The flight was scheduled to land at 7:13 pm, and I arrived at the airport about 7:00, since flights from Toronto often get in a few minutes early. About 7:40, it was announced that my wife's flight had attempted and failed to land, had flown on to Halifax, and that there would be further announcements after the plane landed in Halifax.
There was chaos in Saint John's quite small airport. Another airline's flight from Toronto also had failed to land, and was on the way to Moncton, where its passengers would board charter buses that would take them back to Saint John. People waiting for friends and family on the two flights were at the airport. Not only was the fog too dense for landing, it also was too dense for take-off! Flights to Toronto, and to Montreal and Ottawa, were on delay status, even though some had been scheduled to leave before noon, and passengers (and their friends and family) associated with these flights were still at the airport. Saint Johners are very friendly, and a real sense of camaraderie permeated the airport, with everyone chatting.
After landing in Halifax, my wife's airline tried to find hotel rooms for everyone on the flight, but there weren't enough rooms free. Passengers were given two options.
1) Disembark without checked luggage in Halifax.
2) After refueling, the plane would fly back to Saint John and attempt another landing. If unsuccessful, the plane would fly back to Toronto, the point of origin of the flight, and all remaining passengers would disembark there, since the plane was needed in Toronto for another flight.
My wife (and daughter) and some passengers chose 2), while others chose 1). After the passengers got off the plane, Transport Canada Intervened, and, for security reasons, forced the airline to give these passengers their checked luggage. To do this, all the checked luggage had to be unloaded and reloaded. Big delay. Reason for delay not announced in Saint John.
About 9:30, the fog began to lift gradually, and my wife's flight landed at about 10:15. Left the airport about 11:00.
I spent four hours in the airport, and, for three of these hours, I largely was in a state of ignorance about what would happen to my wife's flight.