When we got off the plane in Winnipeg, my husband said to me, "So, we are driving the next time?". It was a quarter to midnight. Our flight from Toronto to Winnipeg was supposed to leave at 11:45am. We arrived about 11 hours later than I had planned. It does not help that my brother now lives in Carman, an hour and a half from Winnipeg. By the time we got into bed, it was 2am, local time.
We had arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, but not too much so the kids would get bored. I also hoped my son would have his afternoon nap on the plane. I had brought lunches and snacks for everyone, which we ate before our flight was scheduled to take off. My daughter went to the washroom before we got in line to board. All was going according to plan.
After milling around the gate for half an hour with all the other impatient passengers, my husband looks at his watch and questions our 11:10am boarding time. We decide to take the children for a walk and wait for them to announce our flight. As we walked further from our gate, I realized we might not hear any announcements as I was only hearing them for nearby gates. There was still a large crowd waiting to board when we came back.
The flight was showing a delay until noon on the departures display. This did not make much sense as we were already 30 minutes behind schedule. We sat for a bit, but our kids were anxious to get on the plane, so we took them for another walk. When we came back, there was no longer anyone waiting at the gate. However, many of the mothers with babies were still sitting down waiting. The gate no longer listed our flight, and I could not find it on the departures display. I panicked, and my husband wondered if they had boarded everyone really quickly. Not likely!
At the gate, the attendant said, "It appears your flight has been cancelled. Please go down the hall to Customer Service." No announcement, nothing on the display board. I guess we were all just supposed to figure this out on our own. We were not the last to know. Unfortunately, it seemed everyone with babies and small children were at the end of the line. My cell phone did inform me of an itinerary change just as I finished texting my brother that my flight was cancelled. I was already in the line for Customer Service. Thanks for trying to keep me updated.
One mother went up to the service desk to see if they would give priority to families with small children, but she was told others ahead of us would be angry if we were given preferential treatment. Unlikely, but I see how the attendant had to give us the "first come first served" line. We ended up in line for over an hour. There were only two to three people dealing with a whole cancelled plane.
Based on what happened when I reached the counter, I assume they automatically booked passengers on later flights. Most people appeared to be getting on the 13:50 flight. There was also an earlier flight at 13:05, but I am not sure if anyone was able to make it as most of us were still in line at 1pm. We are a family of four, and I was not optimistic. I was expecting a flight out around 4pm. "You have been booked onto the 8:55pm flight." Wonderful.
They gave us $10 food vouchers for the airport concourse restaurants for lunch. I asked about supper, and we were told we would have to come back. I jokingly asked if there was a way to get toy or book vouchers for my kids instead. The attendant kind of looked confused, but then answered she was not sure. If I had chosen to stay at the airport, or had not had the option of leaving, I might have explored the possibility further. My husband suggested they have a movie theatre for stranded passengers.
I decided we would try to get back to my parents' home in Oakville for the afternoon because I was not spending seven hours in the airport. Then it occurred to me that our carseats were checked in. The attendant said they would have to pull all our bags to get the seats. No problem. She radioed the baggage guys. The carseats were already on their way to Winnipeg. Of course they were!
As we were trying to figure out what to do, the attendant came up to us, and told us the airport has carseats they lend out. Good to know, and this makes sense, as baggage can be lost. I am assuming since I was making a concerted effort not to freak out at the Air Canada attendant she was willing to help us. Or, maybe she was one of the good ones. The others, I noticed, were taking their lunch breaks with our huge line of people not moving, and complaining about not getting their break on time.
In the end, we decided to take a cab home. We got vouchers to cover our cost. We did not use carseats for our kids, as taxis are exempt. Yes, we were driving on the 401 and the 403 around Toronto with our children, aged five and three, only wearing seatbelts. If you are over 30, you probably travelled this way too, and lived to tell about it. The scariest part was on our way back to the airport when someone drifted into our lane, but otherwise, the trips were without incident.
We were able to have a late lunch, and supper at my parents'. I had a short nap, but my son did not. In fact, he only slept for about ten minutes on our way back to the airport, and was up until we landed in Winnipeg. At least we were able to relax at home until 7pm. There were families who had been at the airport since midnight, the night before.
We ended up boarding our flight about 20 minutes late because the previous plane was still in the gate. After boarding, we were sitting for quite some time. The pilot apologized for the late arrival of the plane due to issues in New York, but we also had another delay. Maintenance noticed a cracked light on the wing. After checking it for 10 minutes, they decided to change it. This took another 30 minutes. All in all, our plane left an hour and a half after we were supposed to leave. Hence our very late arrival.
Thank goodness the planes now all have personal video screens, and the entertainment systems were functioning the whole time we were on the ground. They also handed out earphones free of charge (normally $3). I had forgotten to bring earbuds for the kids. Now I have some for our next trip. And, because they are Air Canada brand, they will replace them if they do not work.
When I told people about our delay, and cancelled flight, the first thing everyone asked was whether we were flying Air Canada. This is not a good sign. Some of my friends said 50% of the time when they fly Air Canada there is an issue. Not two weeks earlier, my parents had a 4 hour delay going to Penticton. They missed the connection, and had to stay at a hotel near Vancouver airport for the night. Most people recommended West Jet as a better, and more personable experience. Granted, the woman with whom we dealt was doing a pretty good job. She helped us out as much as possible, and was very pleasant. Her colleagues were not so jovial or helpful, and they were quite vocal about their displeasure.
I know keeping airplanes on schedule is a difficult task. I also know the airlines are trying to make money, and it probably saved them money by filling up the remaining flights with passengers from our cancelled flight. It just makes me wonder what it is about Air Canada that they seem to experience more issues with their flights than other airlines. It could be that Air Canada has more flights than West Jet, and percentagewise, maybe the issues are comparable.
Our flight home the following week also had a 30 minute delay. This time it was because a passenger refused to get on the plane, so they had to remove her bags. Not really a foreseeable circumstance. Just bad luck for us. Fortunately, our final destination was Toronto, and it was 8:30am. Not the late arrival of last week. I did not have to spend three days catching up on my sleep deficit like the week before. However, next time, we might consider driving out. We have the time, and it is much cheaper than flying.
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