# Air Canada is the worst carrier ever **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 10, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350 "2021-08-10T01:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/61 "2024-06-24T21:12:51Z")
I’ll avoid Frontier at all costs. Hard to do some times as I think Denver is their hub. Got on a plane to DFW. Seats had maybe, maybe 1/2 inch of cushion. Worst flight in my life. It was a red-eye, so lights off, and any ‘service’ was non existent. I KNOW this is what the airlines want you to do, but I will only fly first class now, If they have it. Not only do I get enough leg room for myself, I get a bit of food. My vacation starts NOW. Not when we land. I’ve flown first class 4-5 times, VERY surprisingly, the food was good. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/62 "2024-06-24T21:46:29Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > I think Porter is having a big impact on AC … > [@wolfpup](#): > > Yes, I had momentarily forgotten about Porter which was a major lapse on my part. That’s an excellent point. I believe they have a reputation for being extraordinarily well managed and could teach AC a thing or ten. Both good points. I was in Edmonton on business a couple of weeks ago, and was pleasantly surprised to find Porter check-in desks. So it looks like they’re expanding into western Canada. Good news. Better news would be if they expanded to the smaller centres that Air Canada has abandoned, but all in good time, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/63 "2024-06-25T03:26:08Z")
My experiences with Air Canada have been mostly positive. When I’ve had problems they were pretty good at providing vouchers and solutions. On board food has been reasonable but not all items are available on shorter flights. I’ve had worse experiences and service with some other companies. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/64 "2024-06-25T17:25:02Z")
I’ve had good and bad experiences with Air Canada, but I’ve had awful experiences with Pearson airport with many airlines. Sadly they are often the common denominator and not all staff involved in supporting a flight is an airline employee. Pearson is just the worst. Mechanical/electrical delays are annoying, but things happen outside of scheduled maintenance events and I’m pretty patient with that stuff (heavily related to my job, so I know what it all entails…lots of paperwork, but for good reason!) Delta was by far the worst trip and service I ever had, many years ago (haven’t flown them since). The most awkward is the United/Air Canada code-sharing system that assigned me and someone else the same seat. Fortunately, another seat was available on the plane, but it was rather odd to check and double check tickets and row labels to realize that we actually were booked on the same seat! Sharing was not an option. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/65 "2024-06-25T18:16:19Z")
I hear Pearson is a great place to send your millions of dollars of gold through if you are trying to get rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/66 "2024-06-25T19:20:23Z")
Gold, luggage, wheelchair; Pearson is where things enter the Void and never return. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/67 "2024-06-25T19:33:13Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > but I’ve had awful experiences with Pearson airport with many airlines. Sadly they are often the common denominator and not all staff involved in supporting a flight is an airline employee. Pearson is just the worst. And aside from the people involved, it’s just physically an awful building. Every connection I’ve ever made involved far too much walking ridiculous distances, with little guidance to tell you how far you have to go. Walk one long corridor, turn a corner, see another long corridor, and then repeat. The whole thing needs to be torn down and rebuilt in a sensible fashion. I’ve been through several of the US’s “worst” airports, and every single one was a model of efficient design compared to Pearson. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/68 "2024-06-25T19:46:51Z")
Pearson is said to charge high fees, and public transportation there was difficult for many years. It is confusing unless you have been there many times. It can be a long walk and then a short bus ride to unpopular flights. But it is not all feathers. It has a lot of places to eat, which are reasonably priced by the standards of international airports. They have rarely lost or delayed my luggage. People are generally efficient and polite. They have those luggage carts available. It has become noticeably brighter and more artistic over time. Not my favourite airport. But there are many I like less. It is not the only airport with long corridors. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/69 "2024-06-27T00:38:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Same deal here. I haven’t had much experience with Delta myself, but my son flies them a lot internationally and it’s his favourite airline. He says they’ve always treated him really well. I know it’s tempting to blow your top after one or two bad experiences, but emotional overreactions don’t always lead to the most rational judgments. Yeah, I’m mystified by people who’ve had bad experiences on Delta. My father-in-law is a retired Delta red coat, so my wife and I always fly on family/ buddy passes. A reduced fare for her, and an more expensive but still lesser fare for me. The downside is that we fly standby, so our seats aren’t guaranteed. However, that’s only been a problem once, on our most recent flight home from Hartford Bradley, when we went up north for the eclipse. Our flight back to Atlanta filled with higher-priorty standbys, so we were bumped. Same happened with the next flight, and looked likely to happen again with the last flight. Fortunately, the people ahead of us were a family of four who chose not to be separated, so we were literally the last passengers on the plane. Annoying, and I was bracing myself to spend the night in the airport, but not really Delta’s fault. **Mrs. SMV** and I figured that we got bumped by passengers who’d tried to fly out of New York LaGuardia or Boston Logan, couldn’t get on flights, and decided to take a chance with the smaller Connecticut airport. We’ve flown into Bradley a lot, visiting friends in western Mass, and have never had a bad experience with Delta. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/70 "2024-06-27T02:36:15Z")
After something like 30 years of not flying Delta because they pissed me off, I was forced to take them two years ago and I loved it, even better than Jet Blue. So, now we mostly fly Delta unless there’s a big price difference. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/71 "2024-06-27T05:31:19Z")
Just flew BZN-ORD-BTV and BDL-DEN-BZN on United and had 2 delays but they actually communicated relatively competently and apologized. ORD is a crap shoot on the best of days. They had a ground stop for lightning when our flight was supposed to take off. Then we see 2 mechanics furiously disassembling part of the cockpit. Not good. Sounds like the emergency failsafe panel if all other panels fail, failed. Which requires replacement, then an inspection. C’est la vie. I prefer my planes functional… The way back Denver was having severe weather–huge thunder cells with hail, and it’s pissing down and lightning in Bozeman now. We’re home an hour late. Adventures in air travel. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/72 "2024-06-27T16:25:44Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I’ve had good and bad experiences with Air Canada, but I’ve had awful experiences with Pearson airport with many airlines. Sadly they are often the common denominator and not all staff involved in supporting a flight is an airline employee. Pearson is just the worst. I think Air Canada gets a lot of shit for what Pearson does. I’ve flown every major carrier in North America and Air Canada is no worse than average and maybe a little above. But Pearson is, by the standards of a relatively modern major hub airport, substandard. No major airport in NA has worse baggage return and it’s not close. The airport is generally poor at delays. It’s not well laid out, and is slow in almost every respect. The airport is just really, really badly designed in terms of its physical design and layout, and that can’t really be changed. I’m not saying other airports can’t suck in some ways - DFW for some reason put its car rental place approximately a thousand miles from the airport - but none are just as generally poor at EVERYTHING the way Pearson is. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/73 "2024-06-27T16:33:39Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > No major airport in NA has worse baggage return and it’s not close. I did have my bags take one hour and forty-five minutes to get to the carousel in Montreal last summer, due to staffing issues (read: airport would rather us wait than pay for sufficient labour). My worst-ever airline experience was due to a combination of Pearson and Air Canada. I’d say the issues were 80% Air Canada and 20% Pearson, though. And just in the last few years, airlines have gotten better at communicating with passengers, which makes a huge difference. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/74 "2024-06-27T19:07:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I think Air Canada gets a lot of shit for what Pearson does. In my original story, a lot of shit happened even before we got to Pearson. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/75 "2024-07-04T22:24:35Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > After something like 30 years of not flying Delta because they pissed me off, I was forced to take them two years ago and I loved it We flew Delta to Eastern Europe (partnered with Air France for the euro-leg). I’ve only flown domestically for the last twenty years, so was used to minimal food (so I pack plenty of snacks), but I was surprised at the quality of the food! After every bite, I was thinking “Huh, and this is airline food! Wow…” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/76 "2024-07-04T22:46:02Z")
> [@digs](#): > > After every bite, I was thinking “Huh, and this is airline food! Wow…” Airline food has come a long way over the years. The challenges of preparing decent meals are huge considering the challenges of transportation, storage, and reheating, all the more so when research has shown that the dry air and lower air pressure aboard an airliner affects how food tastes. Preparing good airline meals is literally a specialized art form, but it’s one that’s been well refined over many years. There are websites that feature pictures passengers have taken of their meals, and many of them are lovely enough to be fit for a fine restaurant and probably taste as good as they look. I don’t think I’ve ever had an airline meal that was actually bad, not even in economy, but business class often has really superb food on longer flights. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/77 "2024-07-04T22:48:44Z")
[Air Canada needs a slogan](https://imgflip.com/i/8vyvec)… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/78 "2024-07-05T00:27:47Z")
WestJet already owns more or less that motto … > **['Give us $600 and also we hate you': WestJet's new UltraBasic fare gets...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/westjet-ultrabasic-fare-1.7227809)** > > If there's anything people can agree on these days, it's that flying sucks. Which may partially explain the online roasting of WestJet's new UltraBasic fare, where travellers can board the plane and that's about it. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/79 "2024-07-05T00:38:28Z")
My favorite line: “You don’t have a lot of money… But we’ll take it!” ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2024, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350/80 "2024-07-05T12:24:04Z")
Nah. It’s been “We’re not happy until you’re not happy” for a long time now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-canada-is-the-worst-carrier-ever/948350.md?page=5)