Argonaut1000

This was the case in SFO last week - 1K boarding in Zone 1 but sitting at the back. They continually made announcements advising to wait until their zone is called, but didn't refuse anyone stepping up beforehand.

Adam Smith

No point in having a policy that isn't enforced

SparseFlyer

My friend and his family recently had an ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING boarding at MCO.

I have a question to AC, what is the training process for boarding Zone 0?

I was under the impression that Zone 0 boarding was to help people with disabilities, and not just those who happened to be on a wheelchair.

Without revealing too much information, one of the family member has a significant disability which require coordination between the family members to allow for a smooth process.

They do no need any specific help from AC staff to board, but they do require some kind of ETA and schedule in order to not make the boarding process (for them and for others) a complete disaster.

However, despite explanations to the GAs at MCOs, the experience ended up being an absolute nightmare. I almost wanted to cry as I was told the story, as I could not believe how people could be so inconsiderate to someone that actually requires assistance/pre-boarding (and a young child at that).


I believe that they are currently in the process of drafting a very serious legal letter to AC, but here is my message to them:


Your boarding process is great. The introductions of the zones, and your efforts to improve the boarding process have been noted. HOWEVER, please not (and never forget), that Zone 0 is about helping people with disabilities. Not just people who happened to be on a wheelchair and will walk out the plane without one.

If AC truly believes that people with disabilities should not be flying, then please let me know so that we can happily take our business elsewhere.

superangrypenguin

While this is a very sad story and I do empathize, technically, zone 0 is only for those that require wheelchair assistance. There are a lot of people who abuse wheelchair assistance and while your case is in my humble opinion one that should be in zone 0, I would suspect too many people would take advantage of this if it included people with disabilities. I hate how that is, but I can only imagine.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...g-by-zone.html

SparseFlyer

Sorry if the story was not specific enough, but the disability requires a wheelchair.

So I think they are technically Z0?

superangrypenguin

Yes, I would agree. In your post, it implies that this family member didn't require a wheelchair, but had a disability.

Quote: "I was under the impression that Zone 0 boarding was to help people with disabilities, and not just those who happened to be on a wheelchair. "

I did not know that your family member also requested a wheelchair. Sorry to hear about your experience! Not acceptable.

SparseFlyer

Ok yeah then I definitely did not express myself correctly.

My idea was that Z0 boarding was for people with disabilities (that most likely involves impaired movement, requiring extra time/room and/or a specific setup) to board, and not just "I have a small pain in my leg, so I would rather not walk and board first, but I will not wait for everyone to deplane on arrival and will not use a wheelchair on arrival".

This would mean that, in doing this "pre-boarding exercise", it would be humane to consider the special situation and discuss with the people concerned the required time/schedule required. NOT necessarily to cater and be aware of everything that should happen, but to at least consider that it involves more than "pushing someone to the plane".

In this situation, the pax actually communicated that need to the ground staff, but it was not taken into consideration.

My opinion was that, if there was a textbook example of someone that requires Z0 boarding, and needs special attention, this was it, but AC dropped the ball so bad on that one.

SearsTower

Flew out of YXJ yesterday on a Q400. "Now boarding families with children under 6 and those needing some extra time." Waits 30 seconds. "Elite and Super Elites may now board at their leisure" What made this worse, is that she was reading it from a book they have at the podium. I have flown out of here twice this year and both time the same. HOW HARD IS THIS?

yvr76

That's 2 boarding protocols ago. This used to be the case, then families were zone after priority boarding (even before zoned boarding was announced).

Some stations still announce families along with priority boarding, and some families try to board along with Zone 1, even if they're not called.

californiadreamin'

Actually, according to aircanada.com (Boarding by Zone):
Thus, PRE-BOARDING for Economy is offered, by announcement, right after Priority Boarding and prior to Zone 3.

Your opinion may prefer otherwise, however, there can only be one fact: It looks like they did indeed follow the policy. There is indeed a period for pre-boarding offered for Economy passengers immediately following Priority boarding.

yyznomad

Can you tell us if there was any Zone signage at the gate at all?

SparseFlyer

Like I told SAP (sorry because it seems I was not clear at all) the disability in question requires the use of a wheelchair.

I did not refer to, say, a child with ADHD that requires extra time to settle down.

I do not know if zoned boarding was executed properly or not (and maybe I should not have posted in this thread), and like the AC website says, they were asked to board first.

My "complaint" was that despite the parent's efforts to communicate the time/strategy it will take, they were ignored.


My concern is for parents travelling with children with severe mobility issues and/or other handicaps (and not just children, but adults alike) being denied very simple requests (it's not like they necessarily need anyone to "do" anything, but they may just require specific information so the accompanying pax can prepare themselves).

mromalley

Does MCO use AC staff or contract staff?

yyznomad

Last time I was there, it was UA.

vacayseeker

Did a quick search but couldn't come up with the answer.

I redeemed United miles for an AC flight and got zone 2 boarding - but I have no Star Alliance status or credit card (other than Mileage Plus Explorer). Is this just a fluke? Or are award flights assigned zones differently?