yyznomad

So YYZ and YYC have now removed the self-serve bottled waters and are forcing people to line up (again) for 10 minutes to get bottled water?

SearsTower

there was no tray of water in YYZ last Friday evening and I don’t think YYC ever had one, but then they also never had 10 minutes lineups.

yyznomad

YYC definitely had self-serve bottles in the area where the hot soup vats used to be. I even took some for myself the other day. Adam Smith reported above (in my quote) that they were indeed available at YYC.

Disappointing to hear that AC is continuing to make the experience painful at the MLLs. Maybe someone gets their jollies on perpetuating a cluster show.

jmt18325

YUL had small self serve bottles.

Adam Smith

A note on current MLL capacity. I had heard a little while ago (from someone at AC that I consider reliable) that current MLL limits were decided by AC, and not due to provincial restrictions.

I was recently talking to a friend of mine, and he said a guy he knows recently left a manager role at Compass. According to that guy, AC has been pushing Compass hard to increase capacity at the MLLs back to normal levels, but Compass has been pushing back because they can't hire enough staff to run them at full capacity. During one of my many recent visits to various MLLs, I also heard some Compass staff talking amongst themselves about how difficult it has been to keep running even at the current levels.

I imagine that some of that staffing problem relates to needing to staff the bar and deliver hot food to tables, so potentially that could be partly addressed by moving more things back to self-service, but I don't know how much of a difference that would make.

jinxer226

There was water bottles Friday afternoon while I was there (YYZ Dom). They were where the soup and chips used to be before COVID. Perhaps they did not restock?

The YUL INT MLL did not seem to have any physical distancing measures such as blocked seating or distanced seating last week. However, there was still a line to get in last Friday.

canadiancow

The first bolded statement doesn't really jive with the rest.

Or are you saying in July 2020, AC made a decision for the current limits, and now they want it to change, but Compass can't keep up?

Because I think there's a huge difference in what I (as a passenger/guest) would have wanted in a MLL in July 2020 (when basically no one was vaccinated) versus now (when most people are).

My biggest issue lately is when traveling in a group. There were 5 of us in YYC and YVR, and 3 of us stood in YYC, but we were able to move tables in YVR.

Even if they keep the current capacity limits, why not put back the seating? People will naturally spread out, but at least that would give groups much better options.

And then every time they hire a new person, they have the seating, so they can slowly bump up capacity.

But yes, I also agree about moving more stuff to self-service.

yyzgigi

they definitely were still there on Thursday afternoon. Hope this isn’t a permanent change. The great staff and $6 beers at Bar 120 with my $37 priority pass credit is looking better and better every day.

Adam Smith

I was trying to be succinct, but since you seem to want to go deeper... They're AC's lounges, but they've contracted out most of the operational details to Compass, which presents challenges.

The first bit of text you bolded is a contrast between it being a business decision (AC/Compass) vs regulation. For instance, I know that a while back, the YYC lounge was limited to something like 10-15 people due to AB limiting establishments to 5% of fire code capacity. Before - and after - the 5% limit, it was roughly 3x that, because the provincial limit was 15% of fire code capacity. Now, there is no provincial limit, but the MLL is still limited to 52 guests.

The second bit is where I was trying to explain that even though these things may be up to AC as the owner/lessee/operator of the lounge, they're not totally within AC's control, because they've contracted out most of the operations to Compass.

I don't know where the control sits, legally. Perhaps AC doesn't even have to consult with Compass, but Compass has said "you let in as many people as you want, but we can realistically only serve X customers at a time, so if you want to piss off your passengers, go ahead". Or maybe Compass has a veto right, under the contract, on capacity changes.

What's important is that, according to what I've heard:

• AC would like to increase capacity of the lounges due to recent increases in passenger volumes
• AC is not currently subject to provincial restrictions that would prevent such increases
• It is not currently feasible to staff the MLL to handle the volume of passengers AC would like to let in

How that gets sorted out between AC and Compass, I don't really care.

I don't know where all the spare furniture is. If they've shipped it somewhere offsite for storage, it wouldn't surprise me that they don't want to spend a bunch of money bringing it back until they really need to.

Although I will note that at YUL Dom, most of the furniture still seems to be there, as I posted about the other day. And that even when there have been long lines at YYC and YVR, there have still often been a bunch of empty seats inside. So it's possible there still is some kind of buffer, although it may not be as big as you like (e.g. maybe YYC has seats for 60 vs 52 guests allowed in). But I haven't gone to the effort of actually counting the seats and checking that vs what they're allowing in.

wysiwyg

I was at the CDG MLL on Sunday. I can confirm that they are no longer affiliated with Priority pass. As my e-upgrade had not been cleared yet and having only P25 status, I checked to see if I could be allowed in. The agent checked my boarding pass and said I’m entitled as I have P on my boarding pass which is for my premium credit card TD Aeroplan Infinite Privilege. I know I get access in North America, but I guess it works for France as well?

The lounge was not that busy around 10:30am. The right side (as you enter) was nearly empty.

Everything was self service and food items were wrapped. I really can’t understand why they can’t do the same in Canada.

And the breakfast buffet I had at the Pullman was just like before the Pandemic. Nothing different. Sometimes I feel some places are just over cautious.

yyznomad

I really despise Compass (there are a few standouts who deserve better than to work for that crapper of a company).
I wish AC could find a better vendor. yeah yeah good luck with that blah blah lowballers win out yada yada yada.

What a gigantic horsecoil the MLLs are now.

canadiancow

Interesting. I know in YVR TB, the tables were all stacked up on top of each other for many months, and then recently they were unstacked, and then it opened. I don't know if they're all still in the lounge, or if they were moved elsewhere.

But I guess for the lounges that have been open, they would have it to move it all somewhere. But with flight volumes, I'm surprised "an empty gate" wouldn't have worked

Yes, all MLLs.

yyznomad

If AC adds back the original seating in the YYZ MLLs to allow for reality, then they'd better not add QR codes for hot food ordering at those seats/tables... because the wait would go from 15 minutes during peak times to 45 minutes... maybe even infinity.
However, on the bright side, I can multitask and lay a big one in the lav, fartlick a little, and do 50 carpet-arrow speed walking laps, all while waiting for my hot food.

Oh, and the line up for wrapped food and beverages will go out through to the beginning of security.

wysiwyg

Weird, I just checked my CC’s benefits guide and it does say MLL in North America. Won’t complain though..

yyznomad

AC procures vendor. Vendor can't meet their client's clients' patronage volume. Can the vendor. Or can the AC procurement figurehead. Or both.

(yeah yeah, unrealistic... just venting)