WaytoomuchEurope

canadiancow

My attitude on these cases has changed a lot in the past 9 months or so.

I am much more willing to attribute the stupidity to AC, and not to her.

skybluesea

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VoodooYYC

I think I'm pretty offended by this post. My point has nothing to do with the fact the passenger was a woman or a parent. It's the culture of entitlement and faux outrage that so many people seem to have. And in this case, I think I'm proven even more right, as it has been confirmed that this all happened over the phone. So why not talk to a supervisor, who would surely apologize profusely, and state AC's policy, which is that breastfeeding onboard is permitted and encouraged, and the agent would have been re-educated, and the issue would have been addressed.

But no, far better to make it public and create a firestorm.

codfather

My apologies, I should have been more specific! This is a common marketing issue for companies because far too many people blame the company for bad service from an individual. This often occurs with Air Canada!

eigenvector

I am rarely sympathetic to AC's explanations of various customer service failures, but the implication of "an Air Canada employee asked me to breastfeed in the bathroom" is much different if it occurred on a plane (or lounge or airport or any other place that AC has control over) versus in a bizarre, incomprehensible phone interaction (why would a person on the other end of a telephone have any bearing on someone breastfeeding or not?).

To be clear: asking someone who is breastfeeding or seems as though they might breastfeed later to do so privately is NOT acceptable.

But that didn't happen.

A mother initiating an interaction with a corporate employee and asking them an unknown question that is answered by "you can breastfeed in the lavatory", then immediately publicizing that interaction in an ambiguous way shows little except the customer's self-importance.

CZAMFlyer

You made a good series of points about the circumstances of the complaint, and the reasons it seemed a little 'off'. But you also lost a lot of sympathy when you attached an unnecessary and inaccurate stereotype to the complainant that itself would offend many:
and I'm still unsure why being a doctor would be "even worse", but perhaps you've had some upsetting clinical visits in your past.

Anyway, feel free to comment upon the complaint, and provide your opinion on the subject. No need to drag an entire generation down in the process.

WaytoomuchEurope

This is a character trait inherent in all millenials. We must find a way to stop these leeches. They are ruining our otherwise highly functional society.

CZAMFlyer

But but but...they make such good beer. And bread. And coffee. Can we just contain them to light-industrial zoned land until they enter their thirties?

VoodooYYC

skybluesea

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CZAMFlyer

Oh man I was right there with you, until the kettle sour ales. Horrible bloody excuse for a beer.

No worries my friend, and hope you encounter some impressive and competent youngsters soon. They're out there, in droves. Just look past their skinny jeans and smooth skin and vacant stares behind thick-rimmed glasses.

The scary thing is that millennials are now piloting the planes on which we breastfeed.

HerpaYvr

For the love of God, its 2019, its a natural thing to do!

I remember as a young child, on a subway in Europe right in front of my virgin eyes a mom, pulled out one of her breast and hooked her child to it. I was a young child, i saw a boob!!! but in Europe where many attitudes seems to be much more progressive then ours in North America, its normal.

It's also normal here! No special privileges, needed, no perv peeking required, its a natural activity.

Get over it! should not be an issue.

As a man, i feel for women who have to endure these gender specific issues! Stupid is what stupid does!

robsaw

Another character trait is the cheap-and-easy blaming of millenials by generations preceeding millenials. (I'm on the tail-end of the baby-boomer generation, FWIW).

Every generation thinks the ones following are deficient in some manner of character.

Transpacificflyer

Much ado about what was most likely a miscommunication, which has been blown out of proportion. Again, AC's PR department failed to control the situation and allowed the complainant to set the agenda. The event required a quick factual response that set out the airline's position and which either refuted the claims of the complainant. or admitted an error. The poor response has facilitated the mob hysteria.

The reporting of the event is downright silly.
- Of course it's a woman. Who else is going to breast feed an infant? The repeated emphasis upon a woman being involved is just overkill and indicative of an underlying agenda.
- Infants need to take in nourishment every few hours and it is an accepted good health practice to promote breast feeding when possible. No one argues against that.
- The issue that arises is when a person asks for a "private" place in which to undertake the activity. On a narrow body aircraft, there are no facilities available to do this, aside from a lavatory. If someone is insistent, there may be a medical reason and yes, it is a responsible practice to refer the matter to a person who is better trained to respond.
- There is an assumption that breast feeding is a quiet, clean affair. Well, yes for some kids it is. For others, it includes belching, crying, and vomiting, including the spraying of liquids. Anyone who claims that their little angel isn't capable of launching a projectile spray is telling porkies. There is a reason why prudent mothers deploy a towel. Having sat next to a child who shared his meal with me, it isn't nice, even if the spray is less than 20 ml. It is high fat and difficult to clean using airplane paper towels and kleenex.