I am a relatively new member of the FT "community"; however, I have been a very active "frequent flyer" since 1988. As I am sure is the case with many of you ivolved with this site I became an "AC person" essentially by default as a result of the demise of Canadian. But c'est la vie! Things change in life and surely this transition needs to be kept in perspective. For the most part, it's the "game" and not the derivative monetary reward that drives us and sustains our affliction. So what's my point already? May I suggest there is often an imbalance on this site between constructive criticism and the desire to exchange useful information in a community of interest context relative to perhaps excess negativity, demeaning references to AC personnel and the occasional rants. Please don't get the impression that I am an unqualified cheerleader for AC. It's probably closer to the opposite; but my personal perception is that a lot of very astute people could direct their efforts in a much more positive fashion. Very rarely are there references to the unsolicited upgrades, waiver of fees, or other "rules" that are bent to accommodate us when we either screw up or haave an unforeseen problem. I would surmise that they are just not "newsworthy. I invite you to check out the Alaska Airlines Board. The blood pressure level there seems to be a lot lower! I'm not suggesting the AC Board is a complete downer-it's not, but maybe some of you might conclude that there is some merit to my observations. Thanks.

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Welcome to the Board. It is always useful to get feedback on the AC forum. You will find a great deal of passion on this forum. Some of us are ex-CP travellers who are still grieving the loss of their favorite airline. Some of us are long time fans of AC. All of us are passionate about flying like you. We care about the Canadian airline industry and since AC is the major player, we hold them accountable because we are stakeholders.
We ***** and gripe about AC. We even are negative sometimes but there always is a member of the forum who shepherds us into more positive territory when we stray. As for blood pressure levels, check out some forums from the South... You will find that our blood pressure is usually quite healthy with the occasional flare-up into areas for concern. Again welcome to the forum. We always need new blood.

[This message has been edited by airbus320 (edited 07-12-2001).]

Welcome, Oreck. I think you'll find that airbus320 is right. If you stay in the forum long you'll see that there is praise for AC when they do things right. The positive- negative imbalance in the posts reflects the quality of the service. Yes, people do blow off steam now and again, but the level of dissatisfaction over the last few months has declined. A number of us were CP refugees, and for some time there were a lot of negative comparisons, but these are disappearing. Most important, there is a strong element of self-regulation, as airbus320 says. Someone can't get away with making outrageous statements for very long.

And there is a lot of interesting information about Aeroplan, Air Canada, and the Canadian aviation industry in general on this forum.