Originally Posted by eigenvector

Schedule is not guaranteed. However, this is not carte blanche allowing the airline freedom to inconvenience passengers whenever, where ever for an entire season and just throw up their hands and say "it's winter, what did you expect?" What I expected was that a predictable and foreseeable event which happens dozens of times a year, every year is accounted for in the airline's operations planning.

Any piece of equipment operating outdoors at YYZ is surely rated to work at -15C ambient temperature provided it is properly maintained. If it does not work, it's not caused by weather anymore than weather is the cause of a leaky roof. For instance, I was on a delayed flight at YYZ where the pilot said "the cargo door won't close because it's too cold". Really? A 787 cargo door is not engineered, tested and rated to operate at -20C? Or the one on this aircraft doesn't work right now because of something actually under the control of Air Canada or its contractors?

The reason I am harping on this is that by proclaiming weather as the cause, AC avoids having to re-route passengers on other airlines (who, magically, are somehow not affected by this unforeseeable weather occurrence). That saves money for AC at the expense of the passenger. And it's a scummy business practice.