Agree with your comments (both airbus320 and AC*SE) and particularly about the lock management has on directors and how little power shareholders actually have. This has been my primary concern with AC since it went private and one of the reasons I preferred the Onex solution, seeing more accountability in a company sensitive to such things. (It is a falicy, of course, in most corporate governance to think shareholders do have a real say in appointing directors. In AC's case, it is the Caisse de Depot in Quebec that is likely the largest and most influential shareholder and does have a say on who sits on its board.)

And the lack of understanding by Milton about how Canadians see their institutions like AC and CP as more than just competing companies and businesses is an important blind spot that may well be at play here. Very astute.

Been enjoying three days of isolation on Cape Breton Island, but had a fine flight on CP through YYZ (T3 domestic lounge is showing strain under its lack of a second floor, and lots of AC elites in addition to us CP elites: also no decent beer, the Upper Canada has vanished!) to YHZ on Thursday. Am at a conference now and too many delegates had complaints about problems at YYZ T2, even with the fixes AC introduced the other day. (Didn't help that their computers went down Friday afternoon at a peak check-in period!) But it was interesting how many people I talked to tonight noted the poor attitude of AC staff. And this was from people who generally fly and prefer AC.

(Those flying CP -- and I myself -- found no such evidence in the air or on the ground with CP staff.)