Merry Christmas from La Guardia Airport!

I promised myself I would not use this site for rants. Too easy; too pedestrian.

As I drain a Sam Adams at Gate A of La Guardia, after a day of waiting for my soon to depart replacement for my earlier delayed, delayed, oh-cancelled flight out of Newark and then trains and automobiles here, two things were brought home for me today:

1. Some fantastic frontline people work service and retail on Christmas Eve, and

2. Air Canada (and other airlines) are still woefully inept at basic service systems.

I became a font of passenger information in Newark after seeking some basics, such as, where is the plane? and, what happens next? and what are our options?  Many complained of no updates on txt to cell and especially not on the Air Canada website.  How can that be possible?  Why offer those services, if not for times like these?  Tried calling the call centre as recommended on the AC webpage.  Hung up after 45 minutes of the same porn soundtrack loop.  Why would extra people not be staffed when bad weather is forecast?  Sorry, silly question.

UPDATE - you have to laugh, especially when I read of passengers held hostage on the tarmack at Vancouver for 11 hours with no supplies (what does constitute a hostage taking by the way?).  But 15 minutes after getting on as a standby status on a flight leaving at the time the late flight was supposed to leave (the late one leaving later now, if you follow), an announcement was made to say that my new flight has been cancelled (again, not showing on website as cancelled, or even late, an hour after the announcement).

Eyeing the randomly formed line of about 40 people and counting, I asked the agent if this means I am back to square one, after I originally had a firm seat lined up on the late flight.  She said 'yep, what can you do?'.  I felt inclined to share with her that I would be in the last flight and there was no way in hell I was lining up to find out I cannot get a seat.  She saw fit to reissue me on the spot.  

Where is the logic?  Some people are here for their first crack at this today, others are in worse logistics than me, some waiting since yesterday.  The airline has nothing, and I mean nothing to do with people - front lines are hung out to dry and the passengers come last.  At least Westjet was offering passengers double their flight purchase if they gave up a seat and stayed overnight.

Breaking news... some people rerouted to Montreal all just scrambled in a flurry as a fellow passenger (strange, not Air Canada) informed them the Montreal flight gate is about to close!

Air Canada originally claimed that any forced stay-overs now will not receive compensation, as this is covered by the fine print of being "weather-related". I am aware there has been bad weather in the North East, but I have to wonder why United, Delta, Porter and others having been getting out to Toronto? They must be facing different 'weather'.  Subsequently, I learned that if pilots "walk out" (presumably for safety reasons), passengers of such flights will received hotel and meal vouchers.  About 60 people, including the couple pictured, received these, only to have no direction at ground level to the hotel or find the promised shuttles.  Air Canada at check-in claimed to know nothing of this plan, directing people back to the gate.  Said Rebecca, "there are many more in pre-security who cannot get back down here (to the gate staff) since they have liquids in their retrieved luggage... we all just want to get some sleep."

At a time when the airline industry is about to face its toughest business climate since perhaps 9-11, or worse, they are simply reinforcing the reasons why they do not deserve any business.  Problems will always occur, and weather will create challenges, but why is there never a communications plan or a sense of care for the people being affected? Hey kids - there is bad weather in the winter!  Why does it seem like they are improvising an totally novel situation?  Because Air Canada appears run by technocrats who see the business as managing numbers, loads and logistics, and not about human beings.  It does not have to be an 'either... or..." proposition.

Signing off the rant for now...Merry Christmas.  As a retail pundit, in a sick way, I am enjoying myself.