Air Canada Blunderf*ck in Frankfurt

April 5, 2008

Air Canada Customer Service

RE: AC 875 / AC2875
REF # : EMCO2875220320080

To Whom it may concern:

I am writing today with regards to Air Canada flight 875 and 2875 from
Frankfurt to Montreal on March 21 and 22, 2008.

The flight was scheduled to leave Frankfurt Germany at 11:10 AM on
March 21, 2008. The boarding of the aircraft was routine and without
incident. Following the completion of the initial boarding,
passengers  - including myself - remained seated inside the parked
aircraft for approximately 90 minutes after which the Captain of the
aircraft (Mason) advised the passengers that there was a mechanical
malfunction (ignition failure) with the port side engine and that we
would be deplaning. Captain Mason stated that the aircraft would be
deplaned because of the inability to cool the inside of the aircraft
during the repair procedure. We remained at the gate for another 60-90
minutes before reboarding. Once we were back on the plane it took
another 90 minutes for the plane to be de-iced. The aircraft was then
pushed back for departure whereupon we were told by Captain Mason that
"this plane will not fly today." and that the aircraft was being towed
to another area of the airport for deplaning. By this time the
temperature inside the aircraft had become unbearable. The aircraft
was then towed to a holding area. At that time Captain Mason had
changed his mind and decided to try to salvage the flight, advising us
that a repair part was coming from Lufthansa and that after the part
arrived and the repairs were made the flight would depart. By now the
temperature in the cabin had peaked causing passengers - especially
the infants and elderly  on board - extreme discomfort. The air inside
the cabin was stale and the odor from the toilets was overwhelming.
At one point the cabin crew opened the aircraft doors to try to
alleviate the heat and the stench, but this did little to improve the
conditions in the cabin. I saw one mother with her child move past us
- the child's head was flush from the heat and another woman whose
face was flushed red, again from the heat. A female passenger seated
behind me was barely able to make it to one of the cabin crew for
water - she was very close to passing out. At this time I removed my
video equipment from the overhead cabin and began to document the
scene and conditions on the aircraft. It was obvious that in addition
to the extremely uncomfortable conditions, the passengers - myself
included - were experiencing anxiety over the manner in which the
situation was being handled by the flight and cabin crew and about the
integrity of the aircraft itself and the repairs that were being
hurried along. At this point myself and at least 2 other passengers
approached a flight attendant and expressed our concerns about our
circumstances and in integrity of the aircraft and the hurried repairs
that were being made. We made it clear to the flight attendant that we
did not wish to travel on this aircraft and that we wished to leave
the aircraft. At that time the senior flight attendant in charge
approached both myself and the other passengers who wished to deplane
and went into what must have been a very well rehearsed speech
designed to intimidate passengers who may want to exit the aircraft
under adverse circumstances and delivered loudly and forcefully in
such a manner as to be heard by all of the other passengers in the
cabin. It was evident that the senior flight attendant was trying to
bully and / or humiliate us. I felt at this point that we were being
both stalled and held against our wishes. I was becoming physically
ill and I was stifling the urge vomit. Withing 30 minutes of the the
senior flight attendant's diatribe, Captain Mason informed us that he
could not obtain permission from NavCanada to operate the aircraft and
that he was officially canceling the flight. That announcement came at
approximately 4:30 pm. We were then kept on the aircraft for
approximately another 30 minutes waiting for buses to arrive to take
us back to the terminal.

When the buses arrived we were allowed to deplane. We were taken back
to the terminal and given insufficient information with regards to how
the cancellation would be dealt with. It was mayhem. We finally
learned that we would be staying another night in Frankfurt. In spite
of the sketchy information that was provided to us by the cabin crew,
most of the passengers located the hotel representative who lead us
through the terminal to more awaiting buses which in turn took us to a
local hotel for the evening. Upon check-in we were told that
information on the rescheduled flight would be provided later that
evening. We learned later that night that the flight was rescheduled
for 9:00 AM and that 5:00 AM wake up calls had been ordered for all
passengers by Air Canada. I did not receive such a wake up call. On
the morning of March 22, 2008 we boarded buses that took us back to
the terminal at Frankfurt where we made our way to the Air Canada
check-in counter. At 6:15 AM I was one of the first in line at the
counter. At 7:05 AM only two Air Canada ticketing agents were present
and only one of those was actively attending to passengers - and doing
an exceptionally inefficient job of it. At that time the number of
passengers waiting to be processed included all of those from the
canceled flight plus the passengers from a regularly scheduled flight.
It was a scene of utter chaos. A male Air Canada agent busied himself
by slowly loading labels into the luggage tag printers while the other
female agent tried to process a growing, frustrated group of
passengers from two flights. The female agent had a large stack of pre-
printed boarding passes. As passengers pushed forward and presented
themselves she would attempt to flip through the stack of boarding
passes one at a time looking for that passengers name. At least twice
she moved from behind the counter out into the mass of passengers
waving the boarding passes around and shrieking that the passengers
must get in line - even though they were in line and had been since
6:15. The actions (and inaction) of the Air Canada counter agents
caused even more agitation amongst the large crowd of passengers. At
one point a frustrated passenger continued to ask the make agent who
was loading the baggage tag printers why he was not helping process
passengers. The Air Canada ticket agent did not reply or even
acknowledge the question and continued to load the printers while
ignoring the passenger. At approximately 8 AM I received my boarding
pass. When my flight landed in Montreal I had less than one hour to
catch the connecting flight I had been re-booked on. Throughout this
connection I found the Air Canada staff to be both unhelpful and
unfriendly. As part of my luggage I had a case that contained two
valuable musical instruments and as per the instructions of the Air
Canada gate agents, these were submitted by hand to the "special"
baggage handling areas. One both occasions when I collected my luggage
the instrument case was delivered with the regular luggage which, in
Montreal, almost caused me to miss my flight. One of the instruments
was damaged during handling.

In air travel, it is completely reasonable to expect delays due to a
variety of reasons and as a reasonable person and a regular air
traveler, I can accept that. As a reasonable person and regular air
traveler, I also have certain expectations. I do not think it is
unreasonable to expect that Air Canada would anticipate  scenarios
such as flight cancelations and that contingency plans would be in
place and would be designed to minimize the stress and discomfort a
passenger might experience under such circumstances.

Nothing - nothing I experienced on AC875 or AC2875 would lead me to
believe that the Air Canada representatives involved in this situation
truly cared about Air Canada's customers on AC875 or AC2875. We were
all treated like cattle. It was a case study in unprofessionalism .
Nothing I experienced would lead me to believe that any contingency
Air Canada might have for such incidents was practiced or properly
executed. The senior flight attendant was nothing less than abusive in
her attempts to bully and humiliate passengers who voiced legitimate
concerns. The agents at the Air Canada check in counter were
unhelpful, unfriendly, abusive, unprepared and incompetent. As a
photojournalist, I want Air Canada to understand that my experience on
flight AC875 and AC2875 is well documented in both photo and video.

You may view some but not all of the images by following this link:

http://www.dunnett.com/ac875.html

I chose to fly with Air Canada not because I want to, but because most
of the time I have no other choice. On the occasions where I do have a
choice, I will fly with another airline, even it it means driving to
another city. In spite of those efforts I still find myself a
"Prestige" Aeroplan member. (Who is STILL owed a promised number of
upgrade passes upon becoming a Platinum member - might those be coming
anytime soon?). I know that at some point I will have to no choice but
to fly with Air Canada, and that is, in part, one reason for this
letter. As a reasonable person, I would like to afford Air Canada the
opportunity to make good on what was the worst travel experience I
have ever had in my 45 years. It didn't have to be this way and it
would have taken so little to make this difficult situation manageable.
[ Auf dieses Posting antworten ]
Antworten

Poster (08.04.2008 20:04)