Kip Powick Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 As some of you may remember, myself and Scuba 02 were downgraded from J to Y shortly before we left for the south in late Febrary.......and we did find, on the travel companies website, that they had the right to do that when they "consolidate" a flight. Last night the flight from ADZ to YYZ and YUL was consolidated and instead of one TS aircraft going to YUL and one to YYZ the route was ADZ to YYZ to YUL. We were in row 4AB and the fellow beside me was in seat 4C and his wife was in J. Apparently when he showed up at the check-in at ADZ and received his boarding card he noticed that he was in row 4 and his wife was in row 2. He questioned the agent and she assured him he was in a J row. Naturally when he got on board he found he was in Y. Once again, the Travel company has the right to downgrade people and when he started to hassle the Flight Director about the seat switch I attempted to intercede and explain that it was not the crews fault as they have no say as to who sits where.............that is the travel agencies decision/job. Anyhow, he calmed down and during the conversdation I asked the FD why he was downgraded. The Flight Director told me it was because the front end crew consisted of 3 pilots this time as one pilot was "running out of flying time" and the extra pilot was entitled to a "rest" seat in J. To me, not having all the facts, that "seems" reasonable but having flown the 310, I know that there are two jumpseats on the flightdeck. Personally in the interest of public relations I would have thought the "extra" pilot could have sat in a jumpseat as the flight was only 4 hours long and what supports my rationale was the fact that the ONLY TIME any pilot occupied the seat in J was when one of them came back to eat a meal. For the duration of the flight that last J seat was NEVER occupied except when a pilot was eating.(The seat was the last seat on the rt hand side, the FAs never closed the curtain and we could see the seat for the duration.) Before any "cruisers" jump all over me, let me restate that this is just my opinion and if it had been me, I would have sat in the jump for the 4 hour flight ADZ to YYZ to facilitate someone who had booked a J seat 8 months prior to the flight and was bumped on check in........... with no prior notice. Yes, I know there is probably a contractual thing somewhere but sometimes a little PR goes a long way....read on...... As well this customer was NOT offered complimentary head set, free drinks or snacks.........like the 15 or so of us that were offered these things when we were bumped......again...lack of coordination/information sharing by the Travel Agent Rep in ADZ and the Flight Director on TS. Further...my bias toward my rationale is probably, in part, due to the fact that this entire flight....ADZ to YYZ was the least enjoyable flight I have experienced in my aviation career ...for a myriad of reasons .........that will be forwarded to one of the members on this forum who works for TS. On the bright side..............it was a grand vacation and the flight YYZ to ADZ, on TS, near the end of February, was one of the best flights I have had in many, many years. Win some- lose some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Kip; are you going to post a review of the flight, as you have in the past? Curious as to why you say it was " the least enjoyable flight I have experienced in my aviation career ..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 There was a small article in the Globe business section today on a Sunwing flight that sat on the tarmac at YYZ for seven hours recently - obviously created some kind of stir among those on board to make the papers. Anyone know why they were trapped for seven hours? Was it weather? The story doesn't say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60N30W Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Kip, I look forward to hearing more from you about your bad flight. As far as the seat in Club Seat, when operating with an augment crew we have one Club seat reserved for crew rest, if it is used or not, well that is another story. Now as far as PR, the front end may never have been informed of the situation, and when you don't know you can't do anything to correct the problem. You remember that the A310 does not have that much room up front and even for 2 it is a little tight! Good to hear you had a nice time in ADZ, I tried to get one of the flights but no luck, they did not end up on our rotations. Regards, 60N30W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted March 28, 2008 Author Share Posted March 28, 2008 60N30W.. I will be sending an MSWord document to your home address with a "trip" report. I will leave it up to you as to whether you want me to post it on AEF. (It will take me a couple of days to get it to you).....still drying out scuba gear ADZ to YYZ was not good but in fairness to you and TS I am torn about posting it on a public forum because the points I have are not really "minor" and I hope you and your peers will address my, and many other passengers, concerns.. CONEHEAD......if you like, I'll send it to you via PM but ask you to withold it from AEF until you hear other wise....fair-nuff ??? regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60N30W Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Thanks Kip, I look forward to seeing your report and will get it to the people who can deal with it. We will talk after I get the info. I hope you did not have any trouble checking in your scuba gear this time. Regards, 60N30W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Kip; yes, please PM me, I will keep it confidential... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 60N30W.. I will be sending an MSWord document to your home address with a "trip" report. I will leave it up to you as to whether you want me to post it on AEF. (It will take me a couple of days to get it to you).....still drying out scuba gear ADZ to YYZ was not good but in fairness to you and TS I am torn about posting it on a public forum because the points I have are not really "minor" and I hope you and your peers will address my, and many other passengers, concerns.. CONEHEAD......if you like, I'll send it to you via PM but ask you to withold it from AEF until you hear other wise....fair-nuff ??? regards Kip, I'm not trying to goad you into posting your trip report, but it is counter-intuitive to offer up a trip report publicly when the problems are minor, but keep it out of the public realm when the problems are major. Otherwise, it benefits no one. If airlines actually make changes, it is often under the magnifying glass of public opinion, and you know what a magnifying glass can do concentrating sunlight on a single area - it generates heat. If the issues are major, and you choose not to reveal them immediately, I would hope that absent strong action by the carrier, that you are prepared to file a complaint with the CTA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Kip: if your experience was that bad, you owe it to the airline and their future passengers to make a complaint to the CTA so that your experience can be investigated and corrective measures be taken. How to file a complaint STEP 1 - Filing a complaint via the informal process People who wish to make a complaint about an air carrier via the informal Air Travel Complaints Program may complete an on-line complaint form, or mail or fax their complaint to the Agency at: Canadian Transportation Agency Air Travel Complaints Program Ottawa, Ontario K1A ON9 Fax: (819) 953-5686 For more information, you may call the Agency from Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 8 pm, Eastern Time, at: Phone: 1-888-222-2592 TTY: 1-800-669-5575 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STEP 2 - Filing a complaint via the formal process People who wish to make a complaint about an air carrier via the formal process should contact the Agency at: Canadian Transportation Agency c/o The Secretary Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1A 0N9 Fax: 819-953-5686 To avoid having to resubmit information and documentation already provided during the informal process, you may, at the same time, choose to advise the Agency that you wish that all material previously provided may be used in the formal process. You may also choose to exclude certain documents or information that you had previously provided from the informal process, or to provide additional information or documentation. If this is the case, you should advise the Agency of this fact at the time you submit your written request to have your complaint transferred to the formal process. To learn more about any legislation and regulations that may be applicable to your complaint, please click on "Legislation". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Should you have any further questions about the Agency's Air Travel Complaints Program or the Agency's formal process for complaint resolution, you may call 1-888-222-2592*. Please indicate which area you have an interest in learning more about. *From Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 8 pm, Eastern Time (TTY: 1-800-669-5575) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted March 28, 2008 Author Share Posted March 28, 2008 I would like to point out that there was nothing, well in one case maybe not, unsafe about the flight...in my opinion....and that my comments have more to do with the professionalism of the entire crew. I have flown on TS many times and honestly feel that they do a good job but the flight yesterday afternoon/night was an extremely far cry from what I would expect, and for that matter comments from the vast majority of persons in our seating area as well as dialogue heard from many of the passengers when transiting Customs and while standing around the luggage carousel would support my view. I would think that this may have been an isolated instance and trust 60N30W will push my comments up the chain of command, but at this time I don't feel anything done/not done warrants a complaint to the CTA........it was merely a flight lacking an acceptable degree of professionalism in too many areas for the reasons that I will forward to 60N30W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rattler Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 I would like to point out that there was nothing, well in one case maybe not, unsafe about the flight...in my opinion....and that my comments have more to do with the professionalism of the entire crew. I have flown on TS many times and honestly feel that they do a good job but the flight yesterday afternoon/night was an extremely far cry from what I would expect, and for that matter comments from the vast majority of persons in our seating area as well as dialogue heard from many of the passengers when transiting Customs and while standing around the luggage carousel would support my view. I would think that this may have been an isolated instance and trust 60N30W will push my comments up the chain of command, but at this time I don't feel anything done/not done warrants a complaint to the CTA........it was merely a flight lacking an acceptable degree of professionalism in too many areas for the reasons that I will forward to 60N30W. Kip: the CTA does not deal with safety. It does however deal with procedural errors, tariff irregularities and customer handling problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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