yulred

How so? The story in the Post says his staff make it clear when they book the ticket that he will require a lot of assistance.

Indeed, according to Mr. Perlman’s managers, that was a stipulation of his original booking.

“We had made it very clear to Air Canada when we booked the ticket that Mr. Perlman required assistance to get all the way through customs,” wrote David Lai, president of New York-based IMG Artists in an email to the National Post.

Mr. Lai added that he intended to “vehemently complain about this treatment” to Air Canada.


Given your longstanding reluctance to believe a passenger's account, this is hardly a surprise. I doubt you would believe him even if took an oath and told this story to a judge in court.

Mr. Perlman said the employee replied “’Look, I’m not your personal assistant, you’re not paying me for this, you’re the one who chose to carry an extra bag with you.”

Doesn't sound very apologetic, does it?

What about posters who go around casting aspersions about other people's character?

FWIW, this 'feeling of entitlement' is based on experience:

In his many other international trips, Mr. Perlman, an Israeli-American who lives in New York, said he is routinely helped at airports by either airline or airport staff.

How dare he feel entitled to the same level of service he receives all around the world?

Worth noting that this isn't the first time you've trotted out this "entitlement" line. It seems to pop up everytime a passenger takes issue with an airline.

Its almost definitely a systemic failure. The agent is merely a reflection of the airline's policy.

yulred

I'm not surprised that India is on that list.

Take your average flight to/from India. Its around 18-20+ hours from check in to clearing customs at the other end. It involves red eyes on both ends, as well as transits, sometimes with long walks (as we can all attest to). I really have no issue with an elderly person requesting a wheelchair in a situation like this.

yul36

Happened to my Mother too. Last Dec, and again this past Dec in YUL. Both times abandoned at the jetway. Filled out the online complaint form, nothing happened. Though she did receive an online survey-How did you enjoy your J experience with us.

Elli

It is third party at Palm Springs, CA airport. Even though I requested wheel chair assistance for my husband when I called WestJet, there was no wheel chair when we got off the plane. The GA had to get one, then page for someone to push the wheelchair. I asked, he was not working for WestJet, but in Kelowna they expected me to push the wheelchair. I couldn't because I had carry-on luggage, then they got someone who works for WestJet to help out.

With Alaska Airlines, it works much, much better. There is a wheelchair with an attendant as soon as you get out of the plane.

I asked one of the attendants if travelers tip for his services, and he said may be 30%. Was quite surprised, as we always tip.

pedanticus

An exaggeration. That flight arrived at 16:57, one of the busiest times for inbound international flights at YYZ. For there not to be a soul in sight would be something of surprise. That she was left for 40 minutes, however, would not shock me at all, especially at that time of day. The AC employees dealing with passengers requesting assistance are always short-staffed. Passengers in wheelchairs are generally driven in a golf cart down to the area by the escalators before passport control where they are retrieved by another AC employee who escorts them through passport control and out through customs. This could involve delays at baggage reclaim, at immigration secondary and at customs inspection. Additional staff would help the situation.

I spend a lot of time in Asia and every time I return home I'm appalled by the level of service that passes as acceptable in Canada, be it from an airline, a shoe store or (god help me) a "big box retailer".

Agreed. I don't know for certain, but I believe the AC employees who provide assistance to passengers are not supposed to assist with baggage once disembarked. Whether this is a collective agreement provision or an internal health and safety policy, I don't know, but that seems to be the case.

flyingmusicianlax

This is absolutely shameful behavior by AC.

llbean

I agree - the fact that this person went to the media and is demanding a personal phone call from the CEO of the airline makes me really wonder if we know the whole story here. As well - I think someone who requires assistance should also consider the size and weight of the handbag they carry...this is common sense if you ask me.

Kansaigaijin

I recall seeing porters helping with arriving Pax baggage at YVR.
Perhaps that is the solution.

Kansaigaijin

“We had made it very clear to Air Canada when we booked the ticket that Mr. Perlman required assistance to get all the way through customs,”

Reminds me of the Tom Cruise character in Eyes Wide Shut. Somebody makes/gets him his coffee, calls the garage for his car, and so on.

Witnessed a needy J pax hold up an entire load of pax on arrival into KIX from HKG on CX. She was perfectly capable of walking off the plane but would not move until her personal assistant came up from Y. The FAs would not let anyone out of Y until she was out, not realising what was happening, just standing smiling like terra cotta warriors blocking the aisles. Poor PA couldn't explain to the FA what the problem was, "sorry sir but we must wait for that passenger" stand off ensued.

LookingAhead

This is not Perlman's first flight. As for knowing "the whole story here", when you are famous, you have a platform you can use for advocacy. In this case, it is for the disabled. If he gets through to the CEO and AC (or the contracted company) changes how they treat disabled people, then he has been successful in helping all those who travel after him. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, and that is often how things change. People/companies need to be called out from time to time. Also note that Perlman said this was an exception, albeit a disturbing one.

yulred

Given that he's not exactly an unknown person (although not popstar famous), its far more likely that they went to him. Google reveals that he's had a fair bit of press coverage before, albeit for his talent and not for his run-ins with AC.

...aside from the fact that he's carrying an 18th century violin and he's never had a problem with it in the past 40 years. Interesting to note that according to The Star, a policeman did step up to help him. Good on him.

I really don't understand the need to cast aspersions on people's characters. I find it very amusing that the initial assumption for several people here is that if he hasn't received good service, he mustn't be telling the truth.

The lengths some folk go to discredit people....its pathetic.

ensco

Not an exaggeration, in any sense of the word. You can hide behind anonymity to make all the pious pronouncements you'd like.

I and my mother are willing to provide sworn testimony if anyone is interested.

llbean

What I think is "pathetic" is when one can't disagree politely without lashing out.
That's just my view.

pedanticus

If you were there to see this first-hand, why didn't you help her? Or were you not there, thus rendering your attestation of the events as worthless as mine?

yulred

Indeed.

We can both agree that you think that its pathetic that I think its pathetic that people go to all kinds of lengths to cast aspersions about other individuals for the sole reason that that individual has complained about the service provided to him by an airline.

If it helps, that comment was not directed solely at you, but at a bunch of posts on this thread and others, where certain posters have adopted a modus operandi that involves discrediting anyone who complains. Its a long-running trend on Aeroplan Flyertalk, and no amount of reasoning or polite disagreement has dissuaded these folk from deliberately trying to undermine a complainants credibility simply because they have the temerity to complain. For reasons only known to those posters, AC is not expected to deliver on its advertised products (in one case, we have posters saying pax should expect poor service from AC, which strikes me as somewhat inconsistent with AC's habit of advertising itself as North America's best airline). Furthermore, they even go to the extent of blaming pax for not doing their homework and realizing in advance that AC will offer poor service. Its incredibly obtuse. But thoroughly entertaining.

Of course, if one is going to cast aspersions and draw self-serving judgments about the character of the complainant on this board, knowing full well that he can't defend himself, then don't be surprised if similar judgments are hurled right back.