fairhsa

I'm going to jump in here, because I've been (very close) to this situation on a Sri Lankan airline flight and it's incredibly easy to get on the wrong side of FA these days by nothing absolutely nothing wrong. In my case the smarter people around realised that the FA was being an arse and things cooled down, but it could just as easily have gone the other way. (Plus I was in Business Class, which probably helped). But it was quite an eye-opening experience. To the OP - the FA is NOT in customer service because airlines are NOT in the customer service business. They give sweet FA to customer service. They are in the business of moving people from place to place at least cost. They don't give a ..... If you board a plane, you have to do so knowing this, and then you will be fine. Don't expect and you may be pleasantly surprised by the few humans that still exist in the industry. In your case, you left from EUROPE, which actually has rules about this crap. I don't know if they apply to tickets purchased in Canada, but if I were you I might investigate the EU rules and see if there is anything there which can help.

FlyerTalker70

We can't have rules like that in Canada, if we did our airfares would be sky high in Europe like the hundreds if not thousands of dollars spent on domestic and intra-European....wait a minute! The truth of the matter is we don't have much effective competition in North America. There's a reason why RyanAir is triple the size of BA! Whereas Europe has RyanAir and EasyJet, we've got oligopolist in Canada who control the entire domestic market (and to some extent by virtue of alliances and interline agreements international travel through Canada). The US has slightly more competition but all the ULCC are limited to regional airports and not major hubs like SJC (for NorCal) or MKE (for Chicago). Hence, while there is more downward price pressure in the US it's not to the same extent as you see in Europe (aside from the occasional error fares).

Safe Travels,

James

Britflyer18

Stranger

I think not, at least in the middle east. No labor laws. Just look at horror stories about what happens to expats there when they lose their job. Who find themselves unable to leave the country, their car taken over, all sorts of things. They don't have employees, but mostly slaves. That most labor is imported from poor countries does not help either.

Stranger

You may not like it but that's pretty much the rule. If you cannot handle your carry on, you should check it. That you may need to pay is not a valid reason not to. This is stated somewhere in very clear terms on the AC web site: max luggage is what you can lift.

As to disabled, they can ask for assistance but again I don't believe it includes lifting luggage. Of course a TA may help but that would be good will, not an obligation.

I already mentioned upthread that I had a colleague who got hurt by luggage that another passenger dropped on him while attempting to lift it. Whose responsibility? I believe the airline since this is onboard and my business is with the airline.

N1120A

If this is real, and I really wonder if it is, there is plenty of blame to go around. FA shouldn't have flown off the handle at the 12 year old putting the bag in the wrong way, parent should have handled the bag for the 10 year old, both had ridiculously self entitled responses and the second FA should have deescalated the situation and no apology was there for anyone. Also, the captain should have never been involved.

YEG_SE4Life

The FA mentions (down-thread from your post) that she works for BA. I am not familiar with UK laws or WCB policies. I am very familiar with the employers' duty to protect the workers from harm, though. In Canada, you are correct. There is a very, very, very broad brush that covers the worker for injury. However, the employer has a duty and a liability. Because of the duty, and liability associated to it, it is common for employers to put policies in place that prevent employees from exposing themselves to unnecessary hazards. Lifting bags, of unknown weight, carried on by passengers, has, apparently, been identified as one of those unnecessary hazards. If the employee gets hurt lifting the bags, the employee will be covered. If this happens frequently, the employer's premiums will increase.

lcohen999

I know this has been asked but

where is the dad/husband.

I've flown with my three kids plenty of times. Even if we are in different rows, I dump my bag and get the kids settled. I don't ask the FA to do it for me.

Only when the tablets/music/books/snacks are ready do I sit down. I'm confused why she (or he) couldn't do the same.

LondonElite

The reason that FR and U2 exist in Europe but not in Canada is the former is a densely-populated place which makes point-to-point possible and profitable with a low-cost model (up against legacy carriers with a high cost base). Canada is a sparsely-populated place with only a few domestic routes that can survive on their own merits. EasyJet and six more like them would never work other than on the few key routes.

LondonElite

The dad/husband is the traveller and author of the OP. For some reason he was three rows away from his children and then the standoff with the stowing of the bags began. Add a bit of escalation and the whole thing goes south.

lcohen999

Ah, I thought it was the wife/mother

Still. Why are you standing there not helping your own kid...

LondonElite

She's the influencer.

I don't know what was going on...this whole thing was so avoidable, even if the FA got out of bed the wrong way that morning. I doubt we'll ever hear from him again.

Badenoch

The difference is you are a good parent. You are not a complete (expletive deleted) with a profound sense of self-importance and entitlement and not the type of person to summarily order FAs around and throw a hissy fit when they object. He didn't help his kids but he did seem to manage strutting up to their seats to lecture the FA on customer service.

It's nice when people like the OP get short, sharp lesson on just where their place is in the grander scheme of things. I do feel sorry for his children.

moondog

It's entirely plausible that they raced ahead of him because they were excited for the plane trip (when I was 10, I did this). In any event, I believe the part of his story about the physical separation during the bag lifting episode, regardless of what circumstances lead to it. If he had been next to the 10 year old，I presume he would have hoisted her bag himself. But, with the aisle gridlocked, and the impatient kettles attempting to steamroll through, asking the FA to lend a hand doesn't seem out of line to me.

YEG_SE4Life

I would imagine that he could have bridged the 3 row separation in less time than was taken up in the exchange between him and the FA.