Flew GRU - YYZ (AC 3101)last Friday evening. 2 hours into the flight the plane (a 763) developed mechanical problems and we had to return to Sao Paulo.

We arrived back at GRU at 1:00am. It soon became apparent that the aircraft required extensive repairs and that we would not soon depart. I was met on deplaning by one of the two Sao Paulo based concierges. She took personal charge of getting me setup for accomodation, taking me back thru immigration and making sure that I was safely in a cab and on my way to the hotel.

She was fantastic. Discreet, professional and courteous she turned what was a real irritation into a winning experience. Instead of hanging around for hours trying to get organised I was out of the airport in minutes. Kudos to the person who thought up this concierge idea. It's the second time they have come thru for me 'big time'.

Footnote to the story - I sent a note to the SE desk commending them on the Sao Paulo concierges and bemoaning the fact that my weekend was essentially screwed by the aircraft problem. Today I came home to find a huge basket of goodies sent to me by Air Canada apologising for the inconvenience!

Just one more thing - notwithstanding the above - the inflight service in J on AC 3100 and 3101 was mediocre at best - borderline irritating. Staff seemed to be merely going thru the motions, food was really lowsy and FA's real noisy in the galley. (sorry to end on negative note)