Originally Posted by
Golden Toque
Volume isn't an issue, the number of people affected by Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa airports shut down is although large for an airline to deal with, small for a web server to handle.
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And soon, all the AC employees who complained about how busy they were last year when the weather delays hit, and were upset about working overtime will be complaining and upset when AC lays off more employees, because the customer can now fix the problems themselves.
I was caught in last year's pre-Christmas "snowmaggedon" at YVR. And I guess I tried to do exactly what AC now hopes we will do, rebook myself on another flight through the website. While the main AC webpage would work normally, everytime I would select my flights for purchase I would get an error message asking me to try again later. Mind you I even tried to rebook myself on Westjet and their website was doing the same, displaying flights but unable to move on with the actual purchase. I finally snagged a seat a couple hours later.
Their new system may work well if a plane goes mechanical, where at most 400-300 pax are affected. But based on last year's experience I'm arguing that their website will not be able handle IROPS at a hub airport.
I do like the idea however of greater reliance on IT, I just don't have the greatest confidence in AC's IT. The best way to deal with IROPS is to keep as many people away from the airport as possible, where they can rebook themselves at home (without waiting hours in line).
However, you need staff on the ground, at the airport to assess the situation and also communicate directly with their customers. Let's not forget that not every traveller is a frequent flyer.