I have flown AC for years and the one constant has been service inconsistency. I really puzzle over why this can be so prevalent?

For example, I flew to Moscow from YYJ and back last week and was on a total of 8 segments there and back. Out of the 8 two were on AC Express on 15 minute flights and on both the FA was pleasant and helpful. Four were on AC mainline, two domestic and two TATL and the other two were on LH FRA to DME. On all the AC flights I was in J.


Three out of four of the AC long haul flight crews were really blah. The fourth on flight AC161 on Monday was great. What I noticed was the attitude of the SD on each of the segments. On the flight where the SD was outgoing, in charge and providing excellent service the rest of the crew was following suit. On the three flights where the service was not great I noticed the SD was not a strong leader. On at least once flight I had no idea who the SD was until about half way through. There was no effort to greet passengers by name and generally not much service occurred before or after the meal service.

A lot of the FAs in the blah crews just don't seem to like their jobs. Everything seems like a chore and frankly asking for anything from them seems like an inconvenience.

I also contrasted this with the LH crews who were more professional in their overall approach and had strong SD's in charge.

It leads me to wonder if AC training and training refreshes are done very often and what sort of monitoring occurs with in-flight FA crews.

I would be interested in other FTers observations on this.

In general, I feel that AC in-flight service is fairly consistently 'blah'. It's tough to quantify, but when I fly SQ, as an example, even in economy class, I know every flight attendant will smile, refer to me as sir or Mr. "JBB" and they'll consistently use please and thank you for every interaction. In short, they never make me feel as if I am imposing on them. I would say the same applies to NH, where the flight attendants bow to the passengers before taking their jumpseats every single time and OZ.

It's been a while since I flew LH, but one thing that stands out in my mind is how clean and well-presented the flight attendants were. Crisp, ironed shirts, clean uniforms etc.

Compare that to AC, where I've seen flight attendants bark out orders and not say please and thank you on a fairly regular basis. Even in international J-class, I often hear "Dinner?", "Trays out!", instead of softer, higher-end language such as "What may I offer you for dinner tonight sir?"

I concur though, that the best service I receive on AC is from the SD's and a good one can make the difference between a high-quality flight and a 'blah' flight.

IME AC crews have been pretty consistent: both professional and pleasant. Then again, I couldn't care less if they called me by my name or said please and thank you all the time as long as they are polite.

Last year the need to present boarding cards on narrow-bodied aircraft was eliminated. It helped to expedite boarding (no rip 'n' tear) and assisted with on-time performance. Having said that call me old school. I preferred taking a boarding as a first point of contact, referring to an individual by name, recognizing FF status, and where possible saying hello in their native tongue beyond Hello/Bonjour.
(Hola/Buongioirno/Shalom/Ni Hao/Koneechewah, etc). That's just me.

Please and thank you? Always .

Call me weird but those words are part of being polite in my world...

When there's a drink being offered, a meal, a top up etc and they're asking every single passenger the same thing I won't hold it against the FA if they fail to say please, thank you or you're welcome with every single interaction.

This completely mirrors my experience. I only fly AC international J and I agree 100%. My worst flight had the SD in the forward galley (where I could see him from my seat in J) eating his breakfast out of Tupperware during boarding, completely ignoring the pax. Since you typically see the SD upon boarding, I know in the first moments what kind of flight it will be and I'm rarely wrong.

You must have really low service standards then. Especially in J I expect that the service level is at least as friendly and consistent as that of a restaurant. Pax should not expect any less.

Simply meant that I find the service to be more than adequate and my experience doesn't match that of JBB's. Apologies for sidetracking.

This reporting of inconsistency of service is indeed troublesome.
I see it as a weakening of the AC brand. When one purchases a flight from AC, there is a standard of service one can expect.

This is part of brand recognition. If service becomes hit and miss due to different crew service deliveries, AC has a big problem.

I agree. When I compare AC to the other airlines I've flown I'd put them in the middle of the pack for quality and consistency of service. Of all the potential reasons to choose one airline over another the consistency of cabin service is pretty low on my list.

Flight attendants aren't waitresses. What I sometimes wonder when flying certain Asian airlines is whether the tiny, extraordinarily polite woman in a cheongsam or ao dai who served my dinner will be a help or a hindrance in an emergency.

I'd rather AC focus on that aspect of FA training instead attempting to mollify fussy passengers who are tallying up the number of pleases and thank-yous per segment. YMMV.

If I'm going to spend five times the cost of Y on J, it is absolutely not just for the bigger seat. I'm paying for service.

That being said, I've only had one SD who wasn't great (well, he wasn't even "good"), so I think AC is doing pretty well to meet my expectations.

I agree that a good SD can make all the difference for the quality of a flight. They set the tone for the rest of the crew.
One idea to address the inconsistent service would be to establish a simple website where we could post our experiences. Alternatively, just create a dedicated thread for this on Flyer Talk.

Rate your Air Canada Service Director

Date - Orig - Dest - Flt No - SD 1st Name - Rating 1 to 5 - Comments

2014/03/28 .... YVR - HKG 007 ..... John .... 5 .... Excellent service

Sure you like being called Sir. Try Your Excellency, your Worship, your Honour, your Majesty, My Lord...... Better still paint/tattoo your academic/professional title on your forehead. Insist that the FA uses it/them when bringing your coffee or asking a simple question and double down by insuring that the manifest correctly identifies your title. Then sit down and glow in the adoration. You indeed have arrived.