Hey, for what it's worth - when I started my first regular job waaaaaay back when, the manager said, if it's closing time and there's a customer in the store, we're still open.

I have followed that advice ever since, in every business I which I have been involved. AC would do well to follow it.

"The customer is always right" is an attitude that has to come down from the top and I don't see that happening in AC with the present management.

I have not been in a BA lounge and seen this happen when faced with the same circumstances. Even Z7 (Zimbabwe Express Airways) kept their domestic lounge open for roughly two hours after their last flight (which was cancelled) was due to depart, until all of of the passengers were accommodated by customer service agents. Perhaps in the US lounges are run as businesses, but in this country, and most of the world, they are a product and an integral part of an airlines customer service to premium and/or frequent travellers.

MapleLeaf - I am not sure why you too seem to dislike me now. Is it something specific?

I agree the MLL should remain open until all flights have left. But if it's going to close, it should close regardless of who is there. The majority of AC staff do NOT display the infuriating self-interest of an oh-so-smug workforce, at least not to me. I'm not sure why Don Martin thinks otherwise. Who is he, anyway?

I've come to the conclusion that I have about as much chance of finding, an accurate, well written unslanted piece about Air Canada, in a Canadian paper, as I do finding one written about Castro in a Miami paper.

MLL- What do you expect from an airline comprised of social ingrates? Really.

100 Million package- About 100 Million too much. Money which could have gone to education or health care or whatever. Not Air Canada.

Checked Uncle Miltons pay (Sal + bonus)
for FY 2000 1.7 million.
M Peterson, CFO 573K
I assume US $ as it was on Nasdaq site.
BIO
Robert A. Milton is President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada. Mr. Milton was previously a founding partner in Air Eagle Holdings Inc. and was an independent commercial aviation consultant to British Aerospace and several U.S. airlines. Having joined Air Canada in 1992, he moved from Senior Director of Scheduling to Vice-President, Scheduling and Product Management, Senior Vice President, Marketing and In-Flight Service, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer in 1999. He has been President and Chief Executive Officer since August 1999.

In 1999 stock was over $8 US today $1.27US

Milton's salary for this year is reported as $1M (do not know currency) up 85% from last year due to his success in acquiring Canadian, as written in todays Post.

In the good old days when lounges were smaller, remember the old one in YOW, the agents occassionally left it open all night. This was told to me by several agents to deal with snow storms. They had to book off at 11:00 PM, and they told a group of traveling Newfoundlanders to have a relaxing night . When the AC people reported to work in the MLL next morning, the guests had cleaned up washed the dishes, and drank voluminous amounts of alcohol.

Unfortunately the lounges are too expensive to be left, and I would expext it is illegal. But as Archie said "thoses were the days".

Well, in any case, they blew a major opportunity to jawbone some influential people on how it is at AC for the staff!

- and yes, the lounges are part and parcel of "the experience" - all things being equal, I would take the BA lounge at Heathrow over the LH place, hence a BA fare rather than LH.

$1 million seems like a low salary for a CEO of a major airline, but I don't know how this compares with other carriers. Maybe if they pay more they could attract someone better than Milton.

Then, on the other hand, my national leader's salary is only a fraction of that, and he seems to have risen to the occasion admirably. Maybe it's not about money.

AC faces uncertain future.

http://www.ctvnews.com/content/sites...s/4/813552.asp

$1 million? Let's not forget that 1.7 million AMERICAN dollars is well on its way towards $3 million in our monopoly money!

AC rescue plan seen weeks away...

http://ca.dailynews.yahoo.com/011003/5/bdk8.html

The $1Mil is Canadian dollars. See it online in the Management proxy circular

http://www.aircanada.ca/about-us/investor/circul_e.pdf

Hmmm. AC shares closed at $2.48 today. That's down where CP shares were when Onex launched its take-over bid. AC ultimately paid $2 for each CP share. According to AC's last annual report, there were 150,700,000 shares outstanding at the end of 2000. This means AC is valued by the stock market at slightly more than $375 million!

Meanwhile, Onex closed at $20.10. As some commentators have noted, Gerry Schwartz is a very lucky man having lost his ownership battle for AC.