I had the misfortune to fly with Air Canada upon leaving Australia, on my way to Hawaii. Misfortune might be too harsh a word but I will let you decide once you have heard about my 10 hour trip with them.
[Check-in] We arrived at Sydneyairport with plenty of time to check in, at least 3 hours. We departed from Melbourne on a Qantas flight at around 6 am, arriving at 7 am, thus 3 hours for a 10.30 am departure should have been more than sufficient. Because we have departed from Melbourne, our luggage have been checked all the way through to Hawaii. There were a lot of passengers in similar positions, attempting to obtain a boarding pass without check-in bags. In previous trips with Japan Airline, there was always a separate queue
for passengers with no bags, I mean, you don't expect all the passengers to be from Sydney just because it is a major airport in Australia, right? With a separate queue, the airline would have been able process the passengers more efficiently resulting in ... more happy passengers? But no, Air Canada insist on all passengers forming a line, which snaked from one end of the airport to at least a third of the way down towards the other end ( and Sydney International Airport is HUGE!)
Next problem, the US requirements for baggage is 2 check-in bags per passenger. I guess its because we are going to Hawaii, but there were several passengers with huge boxes, not your average removal boxes, but like the boxes for 50 inch televisions. So no doubt, you can imagine the queue was prolonged as passengers waited patiently for Air Canada ground staff to attempt to load these boxes onto conveyor belts too small for these baggages.
After more than an hour of queuing, we finally received our flimsy boarding passes and we felt lucky that we got seats together! So, that didn't give us much time for shopping at all because we had to go through emigration straight away. So, by then, I was already dissatisfied with Air Canada. That's 1 star deleted.
[Boarding the plane] We boarded the plane in good time, except for a few problems, nothing major. Because the check-in was so slow, a lot of passengers were late to board, so the plane had to wait for them. It was at least half an hour before we took off. Now, if they had a separate queue, especially for the first flight out ... this wouldn't had happened.
The next problem was the air steward and stewardess did not seem to care where some of the passengers sat nor do they seem to exert themselves when it came to safety. There was at least one occasion when we saw that four passengers had decided that they wanted to sit elsewhere just as the plane was taxiing down the run-way. I didn't know I was in one of those cheapo flights! That's a second star deleted.[Service] I guess I am used to being served refreshments the moment we are at cruising attitude but that's what I had on other flights with different airlines. Definitely not on this flight. I felt lucky that I bought a bottle of mineral water before I died of thirst. Refreshments came more than an hour after we took off, by then I was really hungry and they were not even serving lunch yet.
Lunch itself was okay, nothing spectacular. The service itself left something to be desired. I only had coke spilled on me twice, and I was sitting in the middle of 3 seats by the window, and there were no turbulence during those times. Good thing I took a sleeping pill so I was too dopey to be angry. But that's a third star to be deleted.
The plane itself was a 747, an older model. So, inflight entertainment was on the big screen. That was okay, I prefer to sleep and to read a book. Occasionally, I took walks, both to stretch and attempt to get more water. I guess the crew had to sleep too, because they seems to have disappeared.
[The final landing] We were in our final approach to Honolulu airport at around midnight. The announcer came over the PA system requesting that all electronics should be switched off at this time, seats put upright and seat belts fastened. We hear this often enough and in Air Canada, twice, once in English and then in French. You can't really miss this. As we were descending, our ears popping, guess who decided it was a good time to make a phone call? Remember the four passengers I mentioned earlier who decided they wanted better seats? The adult male was sitting diagonally across from the back facing Air Canada stewards when he took out his mobile phone to call his relatives in Hawaii!!! And you know what was worse? The stewards did not even blink?!? I could even hear the conversation from where I was sitting ... his sister was still working and was going to pick them up after work ... So, all that crap about electronics interfering with the navigational system of the plane ... its not true then, is it? My husband was angry enough to tell one of four passenger to ask him to switch off the phone but all he did was to stare! If there was an occasion for air rage, I would have committed it. I don't know who I was more angry with, the passenger who made the call, the stewards who did nothing or the surrounding passengers who did not strangle the call-making passenger. I was just glad to land safely at the airport. That's another star to be deleted.
[Conclusion] My verdict? Avoid them if possible, its not worth losing your life on a plane for no apparently reason other than the apathy of the stewards who did not care enough, not even for their own lives.
Now, the star ratings. A good airline would have been rated 5 stars. Air Canada is part of the star alliance. I guess I understand why its called the star alliance now, because they share the 1-star among themselves or they pride themselves as the 1-star flying crew.
So, was I too harsh to say I had the misfortune to fly with Air Canada? I don't think so.
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I too had the misfortune of flying Air Canada last summer as part of a star alliance round the world trip. Of all the airlines in the alliance, I think Air Canada are by far the worse. The choice of inflight beverage from LHR to Toronto was wine like vinegar or luke warm beer, and food was inedible. Crew couldn't give a damn, and from the Toronto to Miami leg we had to PAY for drinks and food!! Who would pay for this crap??!
One star is about right...... they should take a leaf out of Qatar Airways book... you can see my review for info.
Cheers,
Martin :)
kirstymack80 14.06.2003 10:54
Oh dear, poor you! My friend flew from Oz last year on BA and said that the guy behind her was on his mobile phone - she was terrified! Good op - I don't rate Air Canada too highly either - our flight was overbooked and they were paying people to NOT fly on our plane back to London! And let me say it was NOT a significant amount! Then a guy right by me had a diabetic fit mid air and the flight attendants were panicking and running up the aisle calling for a doctor on board! On our internal flight we had no choice about the flight being overbooked and were TOLD we had to get a later flight - our luggage went on ahead of us and was just sitting there patiently at Calgary airport - we arrived a couple of hours later. I couldn't believe no one had taken it!! The only compensation was that we got upgraded to business class (OK that bit was good!). KirstyM
JVL 05.03.2003 11:40
Sounds like a nightmare journey! Good job I won't be off to Canada anytime soon ;-)
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Feb 28th, 2003
very helpful by (100%):
