Took a trip recently.
I am quite impressed with the “on-time” record for the last few flights I have flown with Air Canada., however, on the way home from this last trip I experienced a surprise. Interestingly my daughter had the same experience in August.
As had become the norm in this age of the internet I checked in electronically well before the flight, but not having a printer at hand (nor using a smart phone) I selected to print the boarding pass at the airport kiosk. I had to do this anyway to print my bag tag.
On arrival at the airport I printed boarding passes for both myself and my wife, but my baggage tag would not print – the message on the machine directed me to check in assistance.
It took 30 minutes to get through the line at check in assistance for my 30 second transaction to tag my bag (remember I had already checked in). The Air Canada agent jokingly advised I had broken the machine, I guess she could read my stress level. Basically, there was no explanation as to why I had to seek check-in assistance and given the average time with the agent for those ahead of me in the line was 5 to 10 minutes generally they did need some assistance. It is too bad they could not tell me why I was rejected for automatic bag check because I would definitely like to avoid this situation in the future.
Because my bag check in took much longer than expected my plan to meet my wife at the security gate got mixed up. As one would expect, she did not anticipate my bag check could take more than 30 minutes and thought we got our wires crossed on the meeting place. It all worked out in the end but was very frustrating.
Not as bad as my daughter’s case
In August my daughter, son-in-law and grandchild experienced the same problem at the same airport. Unfortunately for them the more than 30 minute line-up at check in assistance resulted in missing their flights and having to be booked on later ones. Given I was massively frustrated I cannot imagine how my daughter and her husband felt. (I don’t think they will be sending Air Canada any Christmas cards).
And the point!
The main differentiation for domestic air travel providers is service. Things like a smooth check-in really matter and given two cases at the same airport just a month apart I suspect there are many others. These unsatisfied customers move to WestJet and other providers, and ultimately Air Canada’s business will suffer. I sold my Air Canada shares a couple of months ago (for a good profit) and I am kind of glad I did.