Did the 180-Day Commitment Apply to YYZ?
Dec 22, 2000 | 2:19 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,232
Did the 180-Day Commitment Apply to YYZ?
I have flown on Air Canada many times this year, and experienced service ranging from adequate to exceptional. A bad experience was bound to happen sometime.
The plan. Fly from Kingston back to Winnipeg for Christmas on these flights:
AC1234 YGK-YYZ 7:35pm Dec 21
AC197 YYZ-YWG 9:40pm Dec 21
The first sign of trouble. It started to snow on the way to the airport at 6:30pm.
The Kingston airport. Sure enough, upon checking in at 7pm, was informed that the Toronto flight was delayed to 8:10pm. Since it takes an hour to fly between Kingston and Toronto, this really meant: "The plane hasn't left Toronto yet and we have no idea when it will get here." Concern amongst the passengers about connections in YYZ, and whether or not to try to fly tonight. An agent called Toronto. Turned out that most flights in YYZ were delayed. Also, there were no seats available on flights for the next day. Toronto informs the agent to put everyone on the delayed flight, regardless of connections. If necessary, they will put us up for the night in Toronto.
As expected, the Kingston flight arrived YYZ at 10:10pm, after all the connecting flights have left.
Herded in Toronto. The agent who met the plane knew nothing about the status of any connections, but advised everyone to report to the Air Ontario control desk. The herd of passengers from AC1234 obediently lined up at the control desk. Only one agent was at the desk; she spent her time alternatively yelling at people in line and yelling into the phone at her supervisor, complaining that she couldn't handle these people. Finally, someone came and led us to the check-in counters, where special desks had been set up for people with missed connections. Some of the herd got distracted by the check-in lines, but they were (eventually) redirected back to the end of the missed connections line. Fifteen minutes later, an Air Canada employee tells everyone that this line is for people who missed Air Ontario flights only. People who missed Air Canada flights are now Air Canada's problem, and should go to the Air Canada ticket office. Sounded strange, but the herd shuffled off to the Air Canada ticket office at the other end of the terminal. The woman there didn't know what to do with us, and phoned for help. Soon, a bleary-eyed manager appeared and told us we were in the wrong line. When asked where we should go, he said he'd check. Five minutes later, he told everyone to go to the missed connections line over at Air Ontario. Murmurs of discontent started to spread through the herd. Someone, rather forcefully and with rather strong language, politely said that we had already been there and were told to go away. The manager marched off to the missed connections desk, followed by the herd. After a heated discussion with the Air Ontario agents, the manager informed us to stay in this line and that they will help us. Of course, once again, we are at the end of a long line. An hour later, it was finally my turn to talk to an agent. The agent dutifully wrote out a hotel and transportation voucher, but refused to rebook my flight. She claimed that even though every other agent was rebooking flights, they should really not be doing this since it takes too long. Instead, I am to call the Air Canada reservations number. (Somehow, she managed to take 5 minutes to fill out the two tiny vouchers, but I decided this was not the best time to point that out.) Great. I could have done this 2 hours earlier when I first got off the plane, and got a decent seat on an earlier flight on December 22 before everyone else who missed their connections claimed them.
I accept that Air Canada cannot control the weather, but they can control how they deal with passengers who miss their connections due to delayed flights. Last night, it seemed that no one in Terminal 1 had any idea what was going on or where we should go. I realise that they were dealing with exceptionally bad conditions, but ... This is Canada! It is December! It will snow! Without exception, every Air Canada employee in Terminal 1 last night looked like they were suffering from 12 hours of heavy bombing. As passengers were routed from one line-up to the next and back again, people's tempers (understandably) got shorter and shorter. They then took it out on the agents, many of whom were close to the breaking point anyway. There must be better ways to deal with this sort of problem.
Last night was the first time I have had to spend a night in a city due to a missed connection, and I have learned from this experience. Next time, I'll know to call the reservations number to rebook my flight as soon as I land. And I'll know where to line up, who to believe, and who not to. Any other suggestions on how to deal with such a situation? It would be preferable to avoid any contact whatsoever with Air Canada employees, although I doubt this is possible.
[This message has been edited by StuMcIlwain (edited 12-22-2000).]
[This message has been edited by StuMcIlwain (edited 12-22-2000).]
[This message has been edited by StuMcIlwain (edited 12-22-2000).]
The plan. Fly from Kingston back to Winnipeg for Christmas on these flights:
AC1234 YGK-YYZ 7:35pm Dec 21
AC197 YYZ-YWG 9:40pm Dec 21
The first sign of trouble. It started to snow on the way to the airport at 6:30pm.
The Kingston airport. Sure enough, upon checking in at 7pm, was informed that the Toronto flight was delayed to 8:10pm. Since it takes an hour to fly between Kingston and Toronto, this really meant: "The plane hasn't left Toronto yet and we have no idea when it will get here." Concern amongst the passengers about connections in YYZ, and whether or not to try to fly tonight. An agent called Toronto. Turned out that most flights in YYZ were delayed. Also, there were no seats available on flights for the next day. Toronto informs the agent to put everyone on the delayed flight, regardless of connections. If necessary, they will put us up for the night in Toronto.
As expected, the Kingston flight arrived YYZ at 10:10pm, after all the connecting flights have left.
Herded in Toronto. The agent who met the plane knew nothing about the status of any connections, but advised everyone to report to the Air Ontario control desk. The herd of passengers from AC1234 obediently lined up at the control desk. Only one agent was at the desk; she spent her time alternatively yelling at people in line and yelling into the phone at her supervisor, complaining that she couldn't handle these people. Finally, someone came and led us to the check-in counters, where special desks had been set up for people with missed connections. Some of the herd got distracted by the check-in lines, but they were (eventually) redirected back to the end of the missed connections line. Fifteen minutes later, an Air Canada employee tells everyone that this line is for people who missed Air Ontario flights only. People who missed Air Canada flights are now Air Canada's problem, and should go to the Air Canada ticket office. Sounded strange, but the herd shuffled off to the Air Canada ticket office at the other end of the terminal. The woman there didn't know what to do with us, and phoned for help. Soon, a bleary-eyed manager appeared and told us we were in the wrong line. When asked where we should go, he said he'd check. Five minutes later, he told everyone to go to the missed connections line over at Air Ontario. Murmurs of discontent started to spread through the herd. Someone, rather forcefully and with rather strong language, politely said that we had already been there and were told to go away. The manager marched off to the missed connections desk, followed by the herd. After a heated discussion with the Air Ontario agents, the manager informed us to stay in this line and that they will help us. Of course, once again, we are at the end of a long line. An hour later, it was finally my turn to talk to an agent. The agent dutifully wrote out a hotel and transportation voucher, but refused to rebook my flight. She claimed that even though every other agent was rebooking flights, they should really not be doing this since it takes too long. Instead, I am to call the Air Canada reservations number. (Somehow, she managed to take 5 minutes to fill out the two tiny vouchers, but I decided this was not the best time to point that out.) Great. I could have done this 2 hours earlier when I first got off the plane, and got a decent seat on an earlier flight on December 22 before everyone else who missed their connections claimed them.
I accept that Air Canada cannot control the weather, but they can control how they deal with passengers who miss their connections due to delayed flights. Last night, it seemed that no one in Terminal 1 had any idea what was going on or where we should go. I realise that they were dealing with exceptionally bad conditions, but ... This is Canada! It is December! It will snow! Without exception, every Air Canada employee in Terminal 1 last night looked like they were suffering from 12 hours of heavy bombing. As passengers were routed from one line-up to the next and back again, people's tempers (understandably) got shorter and shorter. They then took it out on the agents, many of whom were close to the breaking point anyway. There must be better ways to deal with this sort of problem.
Last night was the first time I have had to spend a night in a city due to a missed connection, and I have learned from this experience. Next time, I'll know to call the reservations number to rebook my flight as soon as I land. And I'll know where to line up, who to believe, and who not to. Any other suggestions on how to deal with such a situation? It would be preferable to avoid any contact whatsoever with Air Canada employees, although I doubt this is possible.
[This message has been edited by StuMcIlwain (edited 12-22-2000).]
[This message has been edited by StuMcIlwain (edited 12-22-2000).]
[This message has been edited by StuMcIlwain (edited 12-22-2000).]
Dec 22, 2000 | 3:10 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Southern Alberta
Posts: 20,547
Use this post as the basis of a complaint letter sent to customer relations. AC needs to know how to deal with delays and overnights. It is not as if this is the first time this happens. Will they never learn?
Welcome home to YWG.
Welcome home to YWG.
Dec 23, 2000 | 8:40 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,232
I'll definitely complain about the mess in YYZ. I'm going to follow Ken Hamer's suggestion in the other post and copy the letter to Bruce Hood. Air Canada should know by now how to deal with missed connections and snow in YYZ. (And it was only an inch that fell on the 21st.) And only a poorly run corporation would expect their operations crew to work under the conditions that existed in YYZ Terminal 1 on Thursday evening.