Air Canada's consistent inconsistency at boarding is stunning. YUL to Billy Bishop, GA made a quick pass through the waiting area to hand out tags for Gate Checks. It was quick and efficient. Zone 1 was called first and was given 20 seconds to board before Zone 2 was called. It was an orderly boarding.
Boarding at Billy Bishop the GA called out Zones 1 and 2. A surge to the boarding line. I estimated the line was 25 deep (78 seat flight) and I was stuck in the middle of it. Further held up because the GA was handing out the gate check baggage tags as people scanned their boarding passes. It was a mess and slowed boarding. The flight had been delayed 2 hours and there was more than enough time to hand out the bag checks, but that's not how its done at the Island. I was going to ask the GA, what happened to Zone 1 priority boarding, but realized that while cathartic, it would serve no purpose so I saved it for here
And of course there were a couple of the back of the aircraft seated pax who put their bags up over the seats 1-7, so that pax in those seats were scrambling for baggage space.
I really do wish that Air Canada would update its boarding procedures. On the Dash 8-400, board the aircraft rear to front with an allowance for Zone 1 priority.