Air (or Error?) Canada. Our National Carrier…

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Low Earth Orbit
Whoopsies….Gilbert Proulx said he almost couldn't believe it when he looked at his phone.

He had just landed in Calgary on Sunday afternoon after a flight from Toronto. Proulx, his wife and two sons, 9 and 6, were returning from a trip to the Bahamas.

As the family prepared to dash off the plane to make their final connection to Regina, Proulx received a ping from WestJet.

Due to unscheduled maintenance, their flight had been cancelled, the email said. To get passengers home, ground transportation would be provided.
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"I had to do a double take," said Proulx, a teacher in Regina, in an interview on The Homestretch on Monday.

"I was sitting there, like, is this actually happening right now? You know, you pay good money to these airlines to provide you with transportation, and I'm sitting there, like, this is the best they can do for us right now?"

In an emailed statement to CBC Calgary, Denise Kenny, manager of public relations with WestJet, said the airline apologizes for the disruption to passengers' travel plans…”drink box water bottle sorta thing so Unfortunately, reaccommodation options were limited due to the high demand for travel over the weekend and significant weather events across Vancouver and Vancouver Island, which caused compounding operational impacts and limited aircraft availability," the statement read.

"In order to best support impacted guests in reaching their destination as quickly as possible, ground transportation was arranged to provide an immediate travel option for those who were unable to wait for an alternative flight option."

For some passengers, the swap meant a one-hour flight became about an eight-hour bus ride through the night.

"Unfortunately, reaccommodation options were limited due to the high demand for travel over the weekend and significant weather events across Vancouver and Vancouver Island, which caused compounding operational impacts and limited aircraft availability," the statement read.

Proulx said staff on the ground told him the next available flight to Regina would leave three days later, on March 1.
I won't fly with WasteJet or AC. I'm grounded.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
21,118
6,208
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
…& from Canada’s Second Largest Air Carrier:

Contract talks between WestJet and its 1,800 pilots seem set to go down to the wire, but the airline has already started grounding some of its planes.

With a 5 a.m. Friday strike deadline looming ahead of the Victoria Day long weekend, the country’s second-biggest airline — and its discount carrier Swoop — is still at the table with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) at a hotel near Pearson International Airport.

The talks are being overseen by Peter Simpson, head of the federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Federal labour minister Seamus O’Regan is also on site, and has been assisting in negotiations since arriving in Toronto Tuesday night.

Sources say the two sides were negotiating until 4 a.m. Thursday, then resumed talks at 8 a.m.

Late Thursday afternoon, both sides confirmed they’re still at the negotiating table, despite a morning statement from WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech saying the talks are at a “critical impasse.”

The union issued a strike notice Monday night, and the airline responded by saying it might lock pilots out instead.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
21,118
6,208
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
…& from Canada’s Second Largest Air Carrier:

Contract talks between WestJet and its 1,800 pilots seem set to go down to the wire, but the airline has already started grounding some of its planes.

With a 5 a.m. Friday strike deadline looming ahead of the Victoria Day long weekend, the country’s second-biggest airline — and its discount carrier Swoop — is still at the table with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) at a hotel near Pearson International Airport.

The talks are being overseen by Peter Simpson, head of the federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Federal labour minister Seamus O’Regan is also on site, and has been assisting in negotiations since arriving in Toronto Tuesday night.

Sources say the two sides were negotiating until 4 a.m. Thursday, then resumed talks at 8 a.m.

Late Thursday afternoon, both sides confirmed they’re still at the negotiating table, despite a morning statement from WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech saying the talks are at a “critical impasse.”

The union issued a strike notice Monday night, and the airline responded by saying it might lock pilots out instead.
Airline WestJet and its pilots have reached a last-minute deal, averting a strike ahead of the May long weekend, according to the union.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
21,118
6,208
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
Air Canada has apologized to two women who were kicked off their flight after they objected to having to sit in vomit-covered seats.

“They clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled,” the airline said in a statement sent to National Post. Air Canada said it is “reviewing this serious matter internally and have followed up with the customers directly as our operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance.”

The airline did not respond to the Post’s questions about what procedures should have been followed.

Susan Benson, who was a passenger on an Air Canada flight from Las Vegas to Montreal, said on Facebook last week that she was a witness to the incident on Aug. 26.

Benson wrote in the post that her understanding was that someone had vomited on a previous flight, and Air Canada staff had attempted to clean it up by sprinkling coffee grounds and spraying perfume. But when the next flight went to board, the seats were still wet with “vomit residue,” and the two women assigned to the seats were upset.

“The flight attendant was very apologetic but explained that the flight was full and there was nothing they could do. The passengers said they couldn’t possibly be expected to sit in vomit for five hours,” Benson wrote.

A supervisor later reiterated that there was nothing they could do, Benson said, and the women then asked for blankets and wipes so that they could continue to try to clean the area themselves.

“They got themselves settled with blankets and wipes and next thing we knew the pilot came down the aisle and very calmly knelt down and told the two ladies that they had two choices: They could leave the plane on their own accord and organize flights on their own dime, or they would be escorted off the plane by security and placed on a no fly list!” Benson wrote.

The pilot, Benson wrote, told them that they had been rude to a flight attendant.

“They were upset and firm, but not rude,” she wrote.

The pilot then walked away, Benson wrote, and security came and escorted the two women off the plane.

“For what? Refusing to sit in vomit for five hours! Air Canada literally expects passengers to sit in vomit or be escorted off the plane and placed on a no-fly list!” wrote Benson.
 
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Tecumsehsbones

Hall of Fame Member
Mar 18, 2013
54,181
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Washington DC
The Brits have a thing. If you feel your rights have been violated by the cops, you can go the whole "hire a lawyer and sue for millions" route, Or you can file a complaint, have it heard by a review board, and they'll toss you 500 pounds if you're upheld. Done and dusted. No solicitors, barristers, or other be-wigged idiots in baggy black muumuus.

Maybe the Canadian version of the Better Business Bureau could set up something similar. A review board for complaints, do it on the filings only, no Perry Mason courtroom dwama, and kick you out a thousand bucks if they deem you've been mistreated by a member business. Your choice of whether to do that or go the long, expensive route.

How about it? Canadians seem big on every imaginable alternative to courts of law.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
106,547
9,595
113
Low Earth Orbit
The Brits have a thing. If you feel your rights have been violated by the cops, you can go the whole "hire a lawyer and sue for millions" route, Or you can file a complaint, have it heard by a review board, and they'll toss you 500 pounds if you're upheld. Done and dusted. No solicitors, barristers, or other be-wigged idiots in baggy black muumuus.

Maybe the Canadian version of the Better Business Bureau could set up something similar. A review board for complaints, do it on the filings only, no Perry Mason courtroom dwama, and kick you out a thousand bucks if they deem you've been mistreated by a member business. Your choice of whether to do that or go the long, expensive route.

How about it? Canadians seem big on every imaginable alternative to courts of law.
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
34,286
2,738
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Health agency probing Air Canada vomit incident that echoes broader customer woes
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Christopher Reynolds
Published Sep 06, 2023 • 4 minute read
Experts say the outrage sparked by news of a passenger incident involving a vomit-smeared airplane seat reflects a broader frustration with flight operations in Canada.
Experts say the outrage sparked by news of a passenger incident involving a vomit-smeared airplane seat reflects a broader frustration with flight operations in Canada.
MONTREAL — The outrage sparked by a passenger incident involving a vomit-smeared airplane seat reflects a broader frustration with flight operations in Canada, travel experts say — as the country’s public health agency says it’s investigating the recent episode.


On Tuesday, Air Canada said it apologized to two passengers who were escorted off the plane by security after protesting that their seats were soiled — and still damp — ahead of an Aug. 26 flight from Las Vegas to Montreal.


“They clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled,” the airline said in a statement emailed to The Canadian Press. “Our operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada said it is in contact with Air Canada. It cited its mandate to ensure that anything brought into the country on conveyances ranging from planes to trains does not risk transmission of illnesses that can be spread via contact with body fluids.

“Blood, vomit and diarrhea may contain microorganisms that can cause disease. These fluids, and the surfaces that come in contact with them, should always be considered as contaminated,” the agency said in a statement.


In a Facebook post that has since gone viral, Susan Benson of New Brunswick said she was in the row behind the two women when she detected “a bit of a foul smell but we didn’t know at first what the problem was.”

The cabin crew had “placed coffee grinds in the seat pouch and sprayed perfume to mask” the odour, she said in the Aug. 29 post, which had garnered a combined 8,100 reposts and comments as of Wednesday evening.

“When the clearly upset passengers tried to explain to the flight attendant that the seat and seatbelt were wet and there was still visible vomit residue in their area, the flight attendant was very apologetic but explained that the flight was full and there was nothing they could do,” Benson wrote.

After a “back-and-forth” argument with cabin crew, the pair asked for blankets and wipes to clean the area themselves before a pilot told them they could either leave the plane voluntarily or be escorted off by security and placed on a no-fly list due to rude behaviour — a characterization Benson rejected.


“They were upset and firm, but not rude.”

John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says the aircraft never should have been dispatched, given the “biological hazard” on board.

“What the heck are you doing?” he asked of the carrier. “Totally out to lunch.”

The outcry on social media sparked by the incident speaks to a degraded level of service perceived by Canadians after a year marred by frequent flight delays and lost luggage, said former Air Canada chief operating officer Duncan Dee.

“People’s patience is likely wearing thin,” he said.

“I think travellers can relate to those two travellers’ experience out of Las Vegas, because they feel they’ve had their travels disrupted to a much greater degree than prior to (the pandemic).”


While photos of snaking lines and posts of passenger frustrations at Toronto’s Pearson airport popped up on social media over the summer, the chaos of overflowing terminals and luggage-clogged arrival areas that marked the 2022 travel season did not come to pass, due in part to more prepared players and fully staffed agencies and security contractors.

Nonetheless, Air Canada ranked last in on-time performance among the 10 largest airlines in North America in July, a report found. Canada’s biggest carrier landed 51 per cent of its flights on time that month, according to figures from aviation data firm Cirium.

“Last summer you had the three (largest) Canadian airports top the global charts for cancellations. This summer saw significant delays due to air traffic control,” Dee said. “The system simply has let travellers down.”


Of the latest incident, he added: “These seat cushions are removable.”

Most airlines contract third-party “groomers” that clean the seats and aisles between flights and have access to spare cushions to replace soiled ones “in relatively short order,” Dee said.

“You’ve got toddlers, infants, even adults who have certain accidents … It doesn’t happen every flight, but it certainly happens every day.”

But experts said that tight-packed schedules and flight delays squeezing turnaround times can put more pressure on crews to get back in the air as soon as possible.

“You’d be extending the ground time on the airplane to do the clean-up,” Gradek said, noting that crews have strict rules on their shift time, or “duty period.”

Last month’s incident wasn’t the first of the summer to involve seats and bodily fluids.

On June 30, a passenger on an Air France flight from Paris to Toronto said he sat amid the uncleaned remnants of a previous passenger’s hemorrhage, prompting a probe by the public health agency.

Of the latest incident, the agency said that if a complaint is determined to relate to a communicable disease “and the operator has not met the requirements of the Quarantine Act,” it could conduct an inspection and ultimately issue a fine to the operator.
 
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