Air Canada is the worst carrier ever

The BBQ Pit
1

I don’t want to hear about Spirit or RyanAir. If you pick those you know you have made the decision to save money and accept their shitty service.

First of all, you can count how many fucks Air Canada gives about being on time on one hand and still have five fingers left over. Let’s start by our plane leaving Europe 2 1/2 hours late including the hour it sat on the tarmac. OK let me back up. When we heard about the original delay, we asked the check-in clerk about how we would make our connecting flight considering the delay would give us only 50 minutes to disembark, get through US preclearance, and to our plane. Her response was, “Run fast.” As mentioned the plane sat on the tarmac for an extended period so this meant that when we landed in Canada we had 5 minutes to make our connecting flight.

When the pilot announced that they were going to inform YYZ of the delay to hold one (and only one connecting flight), we raised our concern to the stewardess who blew us off and said, “The pilot already announced we would hold the connecting flights (Yeah the one for LA, not Chicago) and that he announced people should let connectors off first and not to talk to her about it. (Nope he didn’t)” i.e. Fuck you for asking. Later the pilot did make the announcement about letting connectors of first. Of course the passengers did not because everyone needs to be of a plane first n’est-pas?

Oh wait, there was ONE flight that left on time - our original connecting flight to ORD. So midway in trying to process our check-in bags through YYZ to the US, they print up emergency boarding passes for a flight to Chicago leaving 30 minutes after our original flight. Great, I thought (because I’m stupid) we can still get our flight to DEN. More on this later. First we have to get through passport control and get put on an extra special security screening because our checked-in luggage was now listed as deleted at passport control. More on this later.

I had hope that we could make our original ORD-DEN connection. That’s because when they rebooked our new Chicago flight they now rebooked us to the next ORD=>DEN flight at 5:30 the next morning. What in God’s green flat Earth is that shit? Oh wait, there’s more to Life in Toronto. I go to the Air Canada gate check-in to see if maybe there is a different routing to get us to Denver that day. “Oh!” I get told, “See this SSSS code on Mrs. Cad’s pass? It means we can’t let her on this plane until she takes the randomly-assigned extra security check.” What The Fuck? How were we supposed to know that shit? By being turned away as we are boarding? The clerks reply was to point us all the way back to the beginning of the gates (Yes we were at the very end - how did you guess?) so Mrs. Cad could get fondled and everything in her carry-ons gone through meticulously for 20 minutes so yeah being informed at boarding would have meant a missed flight. Oh and the security guard forgot to stamp Mrs. Cad as being check and only did it when I reminded her because the AC clerk specifically said, “We can’t let her on the plane unless he pass is stamped by security.”

Wait! I hear you say. That time-table doesn’t work out because you must have only had a few minutes until boarding your new YYZ=>ORD flight, right? That plane got to the gate an hour late so the guy that printed up our new flight to Denver then next morning must have been pre-cogniscent because of course now there is no way we could make our original flight home - especially after spending 45 minutes after we boarded sitting at the gate. Luckily they passed out a granola fruit snack that made you real thirsty. Did you notice I didn’t say they also passed out water too? There is a reason for that. That flight left after our original connection to DEN would have left Chicago - and we’re still in Toronto remember.

So we get to O’Hare after all the restaurants have close so dinner was a snack pack of trail mix I had in my carry on. Since our seats were not assigned we have to leave the secured area to go to check-in, buy seats (OK maybe legally they would have to assign us seats for free under the circumstances but at this point do you think I’m taking any chances?) and go back to the gate. Oh fuck me. Gotta toss the two large waters and Sprite I bought in Toronto-Pierson to get back through TSA. We get to our gate and doze on the benches until 5am. The biggest “Fuck you.” I can give Air Canada was that last leg on United was a billion times better than anything on AC.

Hey, remember how our checked in baggage records got fucked up? New record of 5 bags and 5 different flights. Here is where the bags were when we went to baggage claim. Note Bags 1 and 2 are our kids’ (who were traveling with us) bags
Bag 1: Somehow made it on the original flight. Sat in the carousel overnight.
Bag 2: On our flight.
Bag 3: Still in Toronto
Bag 4: Still in Chicago
Bag 5: Who the fuck know where it is.

So made it to Denver 32 hours and with with 40% of our bags after we arrived at the Athens Airport. I would rather have my balls caught in a bear trap than ever fly Air Canada again. Oh and their onboard food sucks.

2

Never had a problem with Air Canada. Then again, I think I’ve only flown them twice, lol. YMMV

3

Same, though I flew more often. Three times in the last ten years I had to take connecting flights. (I always pack light precisely to avoid losing luggage or having to wait for it. I assume every airline can and will screw that up so I don’t give them the chance. I didn’t pack light once, and while there were no problems, the communication was so poor I thought there were problems.)

OP sounds like they got the most horrendous service possible, though. Just because I’ve never had a problem doesn’t mean next time they won’t tell me the flight is overbooked and I need to get off and wait hours.

4

A good friend of mine thinks that their slogan should be “We hate our customers”.

Notwithstanding my friend’s opinion, once I accept the fact that Air Canada is not Air France or Etihad, they’re sort of ok.

5

General rule of thumb: Only fly Air Canada if there’s no other reasonable option available. Anyone that’s used them more than once and has used other airlines for comparison, knows this.
If only government would quit supporting it with taxpayer money and let it die. Inept airline management propped up by inept government. What could go wrong.

6

Never flown Air Canada so I can’t say anything firsthand, but as a fan of airline flair I was disappointed when they ditched their nice pale blue paint in favor of the current corporate-looking Delta-like livery.

7

I’ve flown Air Canada a lot, along with many other airlines. By “a lot” I mean an average of several times a week over a period of years. I would not call them a bad airline. What they are, for one thing, is very large, so experiences will differ at different times and places and under different circumstances. Some of the most pleasant flights I have ever been on have been on Air Canada. OTOH, likely some of the worst, too, though offhand I can’t think of anything particularly bad.

One negative thing that can be said is that historically they used to operate as a quasi-monopoly, so the competitive “always keep the customer happy” spirit that tends to permeate many other airlines wasn’t in their DNA, and probably still isn’t today. And it probably didn’t help that before they went public, they were a wholly-owned Crown corporation (i.e.- government owned). But as with all broad generalizations, it’s by no means always true, and I have interacted with many friendly and helpful Air Canada ticket and gate agents and flight attendants. Another point in their favour is that, especially back in the days when flying wasn’t as safe as it is today, they were known for meticulous attention to safety and rigorous methodology for evaluating new aircraft. I remember Lockheed commenting on this when Air Canada selected the L-1011 over the DC-10.

And of course, all airlines have their good-news stories …

8

I have had a few negative experiences on Air Canada to be sure, but many more positive ones. The worst airline? No.

9

Not as long as Delta exists.

10

I flew Air Canada a lot…multiple times per year, domestic and international, for more than 20 years. I always found them to be an excellent airline. I can’t think of any examples of bad service, quite the contrary. It has been almost 2 years since my last flight, but I can’t imagine they have changed that much…

11

I’ve flown hundreds of thousands of miles on Air Canada. Most flights went smoothly. There were a few hiccups, of course, but nothing that Air Canada in-flight and ground staff couldn’t make right as soon as possible.

12

Having logged enough miles on Air Canada to take me more than 30 times around the world, I guess I qualify as “used [Air Canada] more than once”. And I’ve flown most US airlines many times. And no, I for one don’t “know this” amazing fact that one should never fly Air Canada.

13

Have you ever flown Royal Air Maroc?

14

I used to be bi-coastal and would fly AirCanada every two weeks, left to right and back again for two years. Being a frequent flyer has its perks and after a few months I would be regularly upgraded to business class when a seat was available. One time I was invited by the flight crew to sit in the jump seat while landing in San Francisco. That was a memorable experience. But other than that, I find Air Canada no better or worse than any other North American airline. Just flew AC a couple of weeks ago on one of their regional jets (RJ 900 - Bombardier). Nice plane but seating is excruciatingly tight. I did get bumped to business again on one leg of the flight. So that was nice.

15

I don’t think I’ve flown Air Canada in well over twenty years, fortunately. I lived in L.A. for four years and would fly back to Ottawa to visit family a few times a year. Needless to say there was never a direct flight (Ottawa is a hub for precisely nowhere). The comments above about it being a monopoly were accurate: there was never any effort to please the customer because, seriously, where else were you going to go?

Actually, at the time, Canadian Airlines (bought up by AC in 2001) was still a thing, and was the site of my worst-ever flight. I got wedged at the back up against the fuselage; I have no idea what model plane it was, but I’m still baffled as to how the designers put a seat in a location where I literally had to bend over to avoid my head resting against the hull. I’m 5’7", it’s not like height should be an issue. As well, they ran out of meals. Seriously, from my spot at the back I saw them start to tell passengers halfway up the aisle, “Sorry, we’re out of that one, are you okay with…?” and by the time they got to me, literally it was “We don’t have any meals left.” I was offered a cold ham sandwich (I don’t eat pork) and an apple the size and consistency of a golf ball.

Can’t say I was unhappy to see Canadian vanish from the scene, but then I wasn’t flying anywhere for another decade or so. By the time I started going to the U.K. every couple of years, Air Transat had appeared. Direct flights from Toronto to London, Manchester, Glasgow and Dublin. And the service has been stellar in almost every case: on my last flight back from Gatwick we got delayed by a day, but that’s because a luggage truck damaged a door on the hold and there wasn’t a backup plane to use. I got a refund that was basically the cost of my round-trip ticket, and for that night I was put up in the largest hotel room of my entire vacation. I really hope Transat survives COVID, long enough for me to go back to visit the UK again without having to use the dreaded Air Canada.

16

Nice try, but their slogan is actually “We’re not happy until you’re not happy”
:grimacing:

I live in Canada.

17

A man is having a drink in the airport lounge prior to his flight. Just behind him is a stewardess in uniform, but he can’t see the front of the uniform. He wonders “what airline does she work for?”.

He leans back and says to her “Can we fly the friendly skies?”. She turns and give him a quizzical look. He thinks, “not United”.

He tries again. “You’ll love the way we fly”. This time she gives him a scowl. Nope, not Delta either.

Finally he tries “Doing what we do…”. Before he could finish she swings around on her stool and screams “Why don’t you go fuck yourself you asshole!!”

The man grins: “Got it!, Air Canada!”

18

What would be some real fun is figuring out which is worse, a Canadian airline or a Canadian telecom company?

19

I have flown with every major carrier in North America, and Air Canada might actually be the best. Not that I haven’t had problems, but in hundreds of flights you’re bound to. I’ve had more bad experiences with other airlines, that’s for sure.

20

I have not flown a great deal, but have gone around Canada, the US, and internationally over the last many years.

The only really bad experience I had was Air Canada flying from Boston to Calgary via Toronto. We were delayed out of Boston significantly due to a mechanical issue (as per the pilot’s announcement). When we got to Toronto, I had missed the last connecting flight to Calgary.
The helpful folks at the Air Canada counter told me the flight delay was due to weather, and therefore out of their control, and therefore I could fuck right off and get a flight in the morning if I was lucky. I told them the pilot told us that the delay was mechanical, and the weather outside for the entire day had been (looks) sunny and clear.

The helpful counter staff simply turned their backs to me and refused to talk to me any further. I had not been rude, or loud, or irritating.

They knew they were lying, I knew they were lying, and they had no fucks to give.

As nearby hotels were booked, I spent a pleasant night in the airport.

I will never fly Air Canada again, full stop.