ajthegreat

WELL SAID!

BlondeBomber

Not only that--not everyone is hanging around for a couple of days to pick up their bags--some could have immediately been moving on to far flung destinations. Yes first world problems but more info up front helps one plan better and avoid major issues. This has happened to me on flights to Africa and USA where I am going hours from the airport. I eventually get reunited but it can be more than a pain.

songsc

canadiancow

The first intercontinental trip I took as an adult was for work. I had to get my boss to check in to the hotel with me, because I wasn't sure my credit card could handle the hold they were placing on it (I seem to recall they wanted the full amount up front when I checked in). It luckily was able to handle that amount. But I was left with tens of dollars available on my credit card. Had my bag not made it, I would not have been able to go out and buy much.

I could certainly afford the trip, as I was subsequently reimbursed thousands of dollars from my employer. But as a 20-year-old student/intern, I would have had to depend on an "adult" had anything gone wrong that required more than a hundred dollars to correct.

devdas

Quite a lot of places in Delhi offer receipts. Every store in a mall will. Palika bazaar probably won't, but you can get reasonably priced clothes there if you have to (and reasonably is ~ 5 to 10 USD/shirt). Not fine fabric, but for an emergency, you don't really care about fine fabrics for button down shirts.

Alternatively, talk to your hotel and get some clothes tailored in an emergency. Might not be tee shirts and shorts, but you *can* get clothes custom made pretty quickly.

...... situation, but certainly not insolvable.

canadiancow

Though to be fair, I'm sure AC told them "we don't know if we'll be able to reimburse you, you'll have to take it up with customer service after".

YEG USER

My experience has been that the airline is permitted to separate you from your luggage, but you are not...

This fall I was on a flight DUB-YYZ. Due to a huge wind storm, most of the ground crews were on a stand-down. The only work that could take place was re-fueling, and bringing the bridge to aircraft doors (and then opening the aircraft door once the bridge attached). It was weird seeing all of the aircraft docked at the gates rocking in the wind. It was deemed unsafe to open the baggage compartments to the aircraft, so luggage from the inbound YYZ flight had not been offloaded.

I was speaking to the Concierge, asking if there was an estimated departure time. He told me that the plan was to push back in 90 minutes from then. If the bags could not be offloaded from the plane, all pax would board and the plane return to YYZ with the YYZ-DUB bags, and then the next day those bags would be brought back to DUB and the DUB-YYZ flight the next day would bring both flight's bags. My only concern was the child seats I'd checked; Concierge told me if they were needed he'd have them brought on so I could take as carry-on.

Sometimes operational requirements necessitate that bags can't be loaded. I completely understand that things happen, but AC needs to be able to step up quickly and effectively when such operational decisions are made. Maybe have $100 USD (or equivalent in local currency) available for each pax upon disembarking at destination (to be deducted from any final claim) to facilitate things.

lallied

Jazzed91

“We’re not in Miami or L.A. or somewhere where we can just go out and survive,” he said. “I can’t even go shopping anywhere because [Air Canada] said they’d compensate us if we provide them receipts, but no one here even writes receipts. We don’t know what to do.”

In regards to the first half of that quote... I'm sorry, pardon? They're in one of the largest cities on the face of the earth. Sure, it may look different than Vancouver but you bet you can "just go out and survive". ~20 million locals do so every day. EDIT: And not only that, but they're there for a wedding. So they would have plenty of local contacts to help find the best places to get the minimum they need to "survive".

I was in southeast Asia a number of years ago and most of my shirts got ruined due to a spill... I had brand new shirts custom fitted for me for cheaper than buying something at Value Village back home. I bought extras!

vernonc

This.
No one wants to go spend on clothes if AC tells them that they may not get reimbursed or limit to $150. I would have just gone and purchased whatever but not everyone has the same means or the travel insurance. I would suspect that several of these passengers were not staying in Delhi but likely in Punjab and elsewhere - expecting them to hang around with no ETA for bags is silly.
Since AC knew they had a problem, they should inform passengers and not just kick the problem down the line. They could have VDBd pax onto a Europe cnx thus freeing up space/weight. But that's more expensive than offering nothing or $150 when your bag does not show up.

KenHamer

Oh great... now Air Canada's gonna see this.

Bohemian1

Sherpas are very expensive so no worries about AC going down that path, so to speak.

Transpacificflyer

Not everyone traveling to India knows his/her way around, or is able to go out on a shopping trip: Nor should they be expected to do so. Delhi is an enormous, chaotic, filthy place that presents challenges to those who are not able bodied and is unsafe for single unaccompanied women. A quick Google search will provide some insight into what women face in India. One doesn't just pop down to the market for some clothes without encountering a stress filled event. One needs a local, with a good knowledge of the district one is in, and who can speak the local dialect.
On my last visit I stayed at the Oberoi, which is one of the better hotel chains. There wasn't much around and I certainly was not in the mood for the inflated prices of the tout in the shop. Yes, my friend took me to the shops where I was able to purchase what I was looking for, but along the way, I was victim to the shoe cleaning scam (where they throw dung on your pants and shoe and then an accomplice offers to clean it off for a small price) and some other petty activities. That trip took all morning because much of it was spent enduring the traffic and then the crowds at the shops. Even if one can find decent clothes that fit, they have to be thoroughly cleaned. One is flirting with an infestation of lice, fleas or other beasties if one does not do so. A trip to some places isn't like visiting Brampton, or Aventura mall or the night markets of Thailand.

Air Canada screwed up. It had a moral obligation to warn the passengers because the airline was aware that the bags were not being loaded. Passengers contracted for the passage of themselves and their baggage. They were intentionally mislead by the airline. Yes, the airline deserves understanding if it is an isolated event. However, this is reported as an ongoing pre-meditated activity, which makes it a wrongful act. The customers are entitled to be told that the airline has no intention of loading their luggage.

PointWeasel

For my first few days in Delhi I was not impressed at all, but once I got the lay of the land and the scams (dirty shoes, etc), there were many shopping places similar to standards most Canadians would feel comfortable in. That being said, not everyone was headed to Punjab and with connection to other cities within India on beyond, the fact that AC simply chose not to tell pax is unacceptable as others said.

I would like to know if the bags have finally be reunited with their owners.

drvannostren

This doesn't make sense to me. There's so many things that have been done wrong here.

1) Why not tell people this, then offer no fee changes/refunds? I know why they don't wanna offer refunds, but at the very least no change fees would probably help them out.

2) I work at YVR and while I haven't gone into the AC bagroom, I can't imagine they have 4 days worth of DEL bags just sitting around, that would be like 1200 bags, all heavy, those bags are the heaviest that leave this airport, bar none.

3) If they're flying a longer route, why not make a stop over so that all the luggage can go? I presume it costs more, but such is life running an airline, other airlines like SQ are making stops in india to get to europe, or I've heard of someone stopping at DWC to fuel up. Again, not ideal, but I'd rather explain to passengers when they check-in, or via email, or even on board "folks, we'll be making a refueling stop, tensions, airspace restrictions bla bla, we will be arriving 1 hour late, this way we can ensure we can carry all the weight necessary to keep you with your bags. For anyone making connections that will now miss, we are equipped to get you on alternate flights". I bet you'd have far less pissed off pax making connections than having 75% of the pax show up with no bags.

4) Lets assume none of this could be done. So what should be? If each DEL flight has say 14 bag cans and only 2 can be taken (btw...I wonder what they're doing for cargo ? cuz something tells me they're not just foregoing all that revenue) that leaves 12 cans a day that need accommodating. Get to work with your airline partners, send 2 cans to HKG and then have CX take em to DEL, send 2 to NRT have ANA take em to DEL, have 2 cans sent to LHR then get AI to finish the trip. Like...these are extraordinary situations and call for creative solutions. If the passengers are being allowed to fly without their bags, then you could easily expedite tag all their bags, leave em all in 1 bag can and work this out between your partner airlines.

I just don't understand how people are checking in and not being told "btw there's a 90% chance your bags aren't gonna travel". Just leaving most of the bags behind can't possibly be the best solution here.

I often side with the airline in these lost bag situations, I fully assumed this was "woe is me, my bags didn't arrive and the airline isn't nice", but after reading the article it was far worse than that. It's troubling that THIS is how AC is dealing with the situation.