Stranger

One issue: who handles mobility assistance at LHR? (I assume when they say she asked for assistance, that's what it was, not concierge assistance.)

We just came back from Italy. We saw Italian red cross guys in uniform doing the job. But at LHR, sounds like it may be the airport, since it was an airport employee who dropped her on the sidewalk. In which case, from the moment she left the plane, she might have been out of AC's hands. Apart perhaps for dealing with the next flight, which I would expect to be with the other airline.

furballs

"They should have seen her right to the hotel," Butt said.

Without jumping into the overall debate about AC responsibility and boundaries, this comment is unreasonable expectations in a nutshell.

CZAMFlyer

I believe my posting history on FlyerTalk speaks to itself in that I'm hardly an AC apologist. I harbour enough criticisms about their product that I left them a few years ago to fly with & credit to another FF program. But I feel your indictments are neither fair nor valid in many cases.

Your comments are ageist I'm afraid. You have successfully lumped 74-and-above people into a separate health, mobility and capability category. My father is the same age as this woman and manages just fine to fly solo and unassisted across oceans several times per year - despite a gammy knee, bad hip and a scar from a quad-bypass operation. Hailing from Newfoundland, is this woman incapable of being exposed to a chilly evening? Does she possess "more chops" to visit her expat son in one of the most developed nations on the planet? Why would being stranded at Heathrow be any different than being stranded in a Canadian airport? Technically, the UK is a "foreign country", but can you list any challenges that she wouldn't face in Toronto or Moncton? Perhaps if overnighting in the Chicago airport is a "pretty scary situation", we view the world through different lenses.

Buying an airline ticket does not absolve a passenger of their own personal responsibilities. AC, UA and any other large international airline essentially have the same policies when it comes to assisting their customers - no need to suggest one has a monopoly of happy, well cared-for travellers. It's disingenuous to imply that any airline enjoys a 100% customer satisfaction rate - even if passenger irritants are entirely outside the airlines' control. In many cases, passenger expectations exceed the threshold of what most would call reasonable. One of the AC 45 arrivals the other night saw 135 passengers disembark requesting (not necessarily requiring) wheelchairs. Turns out, only one passenger had actual mobility challenges. An average arrival on that route sees 50-60 people requesting wheelchairs, which naturally depletes the supply of chairs offered by AC, the airport and even other airlines. This may be a specific cultural challenge in which many people shipping off their relatives expect that plunking Nan into a chair will somehow result in expedited and personalized assistance through the disembarkation, immigration, baggage, customs and transfer procedures.

Let's not pretend that Skytrax rankings have any correlation with how proficient or capable an airline is. Nor convince ourselves that AC executives haven't thought to examine the products offered by competitors to aid in setting their own levels of service.

It is possible that an airline could devote staff to guide all its customers with personalized and expedited assistance, but at what cost and logistical penalties? And sometimes, especially during abnormal operating times (ie: this week's weather in Europe), s**t just happens.

While there may have been some hiccups in this experience, I get a sense that much of the outrage in this story is manufactured.

Transpacificflyer

If I was asked what the root cause of the confusion was, I'd say; Lack of communication, specifically a failure to provide a comprehensible explanation and instructions to the passenger. I recognize that most of the comments above are valid, however, time and time again I see passengers with unrealistic expectations who are not given the benefit of clear communication. The event could have been better managed if someone had advised the woman whether or not she was being placed in a hotel, and if so, which hotel and how she would be transported there. If someone will not receive a hotel, or needs to call AC, or has to report back at a certain time, just say so. Document it too.

We can all identify the deficiencies associated with the event, but what's the solution that AC could implement? I believe it is clear and honest dialogue with the passenger in this type of situation. Passengers too must take responsibility for themselves during transit and it is time the airline industry, consumer groups and the government rolled out a joint effort to explain to passengers what an airline can or will do and what a passenger must do under these circumstances. Ma and Pa kettle are under the false assumption that they will be looked after and we all know that is not the case.

eigenvector

It is not reasonable to expect that ticking the "special assistance" box on an airline reservation will result in door-to-door VIP service across multiple countries at no additional cost. Special assistance is to ensure that people of all physical abilities are able to embark/disembark the aircraft and navigate the airport. It does not extend to travel concierge services. To expect airlines to provide that sort of service, gratis, to anyone who requests it would be unduly burdensome. People who require a full time caregiver need to arrange that themselves and at their own expense.

If grandma is of sound mind to travel across the world by herself, then when it became evident that no one from AC was available to rectify the situation surely she could manage to hail a taxi to an airport hotel and send AC the bill afterwards. Or have any of the info / assistance desks at Heathrow telephone for a reservation. Et cetera. This is not to relieve AC of the responsibility to accommodate her. They screwed up. But there's no need for anyone to have slept in the terminal over such a simple mistake.

Intercontinental travel is not without hiccups. If someone requires assistance at every moment of their journey, they should be traveling with a caregiver.

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RatherBeInYOW

Yeah, there is likely two sides to this. There is almost certainly some element of screw-up by AC here, in how the hotel voucher was handed out or what was communicated on where to go. This pax would have probably been at the transfer desk inside of LHR when either their delayed inbound or the cancelled outbound caused them to misconnect, and then would have had to clear UK customs and then head on the bus to an airport hotel. Someone should have made clear which hotel, which bus etc. and if you don't know your way around LHR I could see how this might be confusing.

However, as you note, mobility assistance isn't the same thing as a caregiver. They're going to help you get on/off the plane, and help you move around the airport, with some combination of wheelchairs, golf carts, etc. But if your parent (and FWIW my parents are about the same age) aren't capable of handing some hiccups on international travel, especially travelling in to the worst winter storm the UK and Ireland have seen in many years, then you need to be able to rely on more than mobility assistance from AC to deal with this.

TLDR; This sounds like a screw-up by AC compounded by some unrealistic expectations from the people involved about how much responsibility they have to handle an IRROPS situation.

Stranger

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Which airline was supposed to give a voucher? Was the AC fight late, or was the next flight cancelled?

KenHamer

Yes.

1Newflyer

Special assistance is "non existent" regardless of airports or airlines but all specifically point out that service availability when they sell tickets. I had a normal 2 hr connection at FRA from LH to AC. I needed assistance as I could not walk the distance to transfer flights after a knee surgery. Getting on LH at the origin was great. Getting off and transferring was not. A "dedicated bus" transferred me to a "holding pen" instead of normal arrival hall for transfers where I was expecting to get a wheel chair. I assume a FRA personal actually gathered all the needy and their extended travel companions from different flights arriving within to the same "holding pen". And then one person was wheeling the disabled folks to transfer points. The gal in charge indicated I most likely will not make the connection. I objected and thankfully she called the super and he in turn found the handler to wheel me to the AC gate at Formula One speed through the terminal. I am grateful for the young racer, otherwise I would need to overnight. I encountered AC's staff at the gate and not earlier. The thing is, I called both airlines twice each, a way in advanced explaining my situation and was doubly assured of an appropriate assistance for a timely transfer.
74-year-old was wronged.

Stranger

I would not go that far. More like special assistance is unpredictable.

My wife did rely upon assistance a few years back when breaking a leg overseas, and then more recently the last year/year and half before she had hid replacement. Although that she by and large booked in J, I do not believe that necessarily makes a big difference. That when traveling with me we would ask for concierge assistance may.

She had a very good experience with BR. With AC domestically, it would usually be OK except once at YYZ when there was no one waiting for her when arriving and since her connection was a bit tight, she walked to US immigration, where assistance eventually caught up with her.

AT FRA, connecting AC to LH, with AC delayed, concierge helped with rebooking but then sent her to the regular FRA assistance system, i.e. the "pen." Once also upon arrival the FRA assistance did bring her all the way to the Sheraton.

Often1

I am astonished that somehow the woman's age is the determinant. There are many people her age who travel for work and leisure and are just fine doing so. Then there are people much younger who require assistance. If she required assistance, she required assistance. Whether she is 74 or 24.

What we do not know is whether AC, as the late delivering carrier, had the responsibility for rebooking her and the duty of care to handle her hotel or whether a cancellation of her onwards flight left that to her onwards carrier. In either event, it is unlikely that someone did not tell her where she was headed. Alternatively, she did not have a hotel and someone simply told the driver that she did.

All of this leaves me wondering whether this is someone who ought to be traveling alone. Special assistance means someone to push or drive her. It is not a companion service which handles transfers. If someone cannot handle solo travel, then it is on the family to have made arrangements or traveled with her.

In any event, there are far too many missing facts here to blame AC or anyone.

1Newflyer

You just did.

1Newflyer

You must be kidding. The transfers that are mostly problematic for passengers with mobility issues. At the origin or destination the issue is less needy. There are always other ways to handle the assistance, not necessarily requiring airline or airport. Read your post again. I guess you just want to talk.

Most people do not need a wheel chair assistance one they get to the gate. Yet they the ones that are wheeled in first to get an overhead space together with the entourage I agree the system is being abused and falsely implemented.

RatherBeInYOW

How does your anecdote have anything to do with what happened to this lady? And you got what is offered; assistance in transportation between gates. What exactly were you expecting?

RatherBeInYOW

I'm not sure what you are going on about. Even if you don't need a wheel chair to board the plane, if you've requested mobility assistance from Air Canada you get a little wheelchair on your BP and they'll let you board first, before zone 1.

And yes, he's correct - Air Canada is not providing a dedicated transfer / attendant service. They are providing assistance in transportation through the airport. From the Air Canada website:

This assistance will be provided by AC staff, airport staff or at outstations possibly staff from other airlines when flying on an 014 ticket - or sometimes a combination of the above. But that is all they are doing; pushing you on a wheelchair or giving you a ride on a golf cart. They aren't a personal attendant to make sure you get through your trip.