Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Flying the Crazy Skies

Co-pilot 'falling ill' forces Air Canada emergency landing in Ireland Monday after he began "acting in a peculiar manner and talking loudly to himself..." Officials at the Irish airport confirmed that the co-pilot was admitted to the psychiatric unit of the Ennis General Hospital. No surprise there - I go a little crazy when I fly with Air Canada too.

What really made me laugh though was Air Canada's statement: "The captain and crew of AC 848 followed standard operating procedures in light of the co-pilot falling ill. The captain elected to divert to Shannon and landed without incident. At no time was safety compromised."

Really? The poor guy was playing with his lower lip and singing "It's Raining Men" in a keening falsetto and you don't think this posed any danger to the safety of passengers or crew?

It hasn't been a good week for Air Canada, this comes just days after they stomped their feet, proclaimed "It's not my fault I am always late!" and stormed off to their room.

Air Canada needs to take a long hard look at how it treats its staff, its customers and the equipment they own. The arse is coming outa her b'ys, and I am not sure how much longer she will hold together.

Share your Air Canada horror stories... I know you've got them...

12 comments:

Karen said...

Oh I've got way too many Air Canada stories to tell....it would take forever!

nadinebc said...

Oh come on, pick your favourite!

Anonymous said...

Ok. Six a.m. Sitting on a plane in St. John's airport waiting for the plane to back away from the terminal for our flight to Halifax, and on to Fredericton. The captain attempts to start the engines and out of the right side of the plane we can all see flames shooting out of the engine blazing past the arse of the plane. That's right, flames outside every window from the wing back. Everyone kind of gives each other a dumbfounded look. "Is that normal?" Then he tries it again. Flamethrower again! "Ladies and gentlemen, please bear with us as we are have some minor mechanical difficulties. We are having some troubles with one of our engines and we are calling our service personnel to assist in rectifying the situation. Please remain seated and we'll be underway shortly." Hmmm.... ok. Ten minutes later he tries again and again, flames bursting out of the back of the engine. "Ladies and gentlemen, we will have to ask that you deboard the airplane as we are forced to cancel this flight. Check with Air Canada personnel inside the terminal for alternate travel arrangements."

Ok... maybe Air Canada was a little crazy that day, but there were at least 200 other even crazier people on board that plane. None of them, including me, insisted on "alternate travel arrangements" even after the second time teh engine nearly exploded!

nadinebc said...

Holy crap Steve! I would have peed myself had I been on that plane.

YourBootStraps said...

Steve, I remember that as plain as the day we were there 'ol friend. That was amazing. I'll never forget the looks on our faces that day. Priceless!

Anonymous said...

do you think westjet is any better?

jen c said...

i saw that news story this morning and thought the exact same thing - since when is the co-pilot going insane NOT a danger to the passengers and crew...hmmm.....
i'm pretty sure i don't have any totally terrible air canada stories. other than the usual bad service, bitchy flight attendants and terrible food. but that sort of seems normal now!

Anonymous said...

Hey everyone,join my petition against Air Canada...1125 so far !!!
www.ipetitions.com/petition/AirCanada
Bob in CBS NL

WhitbyDude01 said...

Nadine and I had a connecting flight to Montreal one time, and I'm pretty sure it was Air Canada, and when we landed it was snowing pretty heavily and there was no one to guide us to the passenger ramp. So we just sat there and waited...and waited....and waited...It got darker outside and there was 0 activity around us. No vehicles were driving by, there were no airport personel, no one handling luggage,not even any lights on in that part of the airport when the captain comes on and says that apparently no ground crew is working this evening so we are waiting for people to come in from some other part of the city.

Not remarkable compared to the other stories given but still indicative of the quality of service AirCanada provides. How the hell do you land at a city airport and not have a grounds crew waiting for the plane when it arrives? It could have been the airport's fault but hey.....I'm sure Air Canada had something to do with screwing things up.

Anonymous said...

obviously none of you have travelled much -- Compared to a huge number of other airlines around the world, Air Canada is dependable and provides excellent customer service. I read somewhere that it has won several international awards -- too bad it doesn't do a better job of letting Canadians know about its success.

You Canadians are hilarious -- determined to perpetuate your inferiority complex by criticizing your institutions that are greatly admired elsewhere in the world. Reminds me of the joke about the lobster pot. Two pots on the stove, one full of American lobster and the other full of Canadian lobster. The American pot has a big lid on it because the American lobsters keep trying to climb out of the pot. The Canadian pot doesn't need a lid because as soon as a Canadian lobster tries to climb out, the other Canadian lobsters pull him back down. Don't let anyone achieve greatness because then everyone else's mediocrity will be too apparent!

nadinebc said...

We don't shy away from criticism because we understand that it is necessary for improvement. I guess we don’t suffer from the delusion we are perfect.

I can stand by what I say Mr. Anonymous, you can’t even manage that. I was going to delete your comment as it insulted all Canadians, instead of taking issue with just my post. But I figured I would let your bigotry remain there for all to see, it says quite a bit about you, and underlines the fact you have nothing of substance to add to the conversation.

Unknown said...

Steve said...

It's funny how "Anonymous" can so bravely make these pointed comments. I'm really impressed at how he puts himself out there with such strong opinions. Takes a lot of guts to publicly stand strong with unpopular opinions.

Kudos to you Anonymous!