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air canada named best airline in north america

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for the fifth year in a row air Canada has been named best airline in north America , move over hockey ! (www.google.ca) Más...

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stevooz
steve rogers 2
oh well I guess 18.85 million customers are wrong , if you are a business traveler , chances are you have lost your luggage more than once , I once flew to Halifax on westjet my luggage ended up in Vancouver , took 3 days to get them back , air Canada also lost my luggage so did Singapore airlines , not lucky with luggage what can I say , I fly a lot , so stuff happens .
MaggieCampbell
the last two trips we have taken to Hawaii and then more recently to Israel, were with Air Canada and we were astonished at the excellent service so it must depend on which cabin crew is working. No complaints at all on this end.
DanWardlaw
DanWardlaw 2
It's also the governments favorite bail out airline as well what do you expect.
sandylns
Brian Lager 1
How So? Back up your statement with facts. Last bail out was prior to 1989. Duly repaid. As have all of their so called handouts. Since being privatised there has been no government money poured into the company. When, it was a Crown Corporation, there were times when it did receive some funding. Again, all of it paid back. That same funding was given to Canadian National, CP, Wardair, Plus countless other corporate entities. Stop trying to diss AC for something that happened over 25 years ago.
Michel0
Michel B. 2
People can't just read anymore or willing to make some further efforts in order to get answers. No they prefer the bashing or criticize.

Well for you guys, Westjet is second for Best Airline Staff Service in North America.
http://www.worldairlineawards.com/Awards_2014/svcexcnamerica.htm

And

7th for The World's Best Low-Cost Airlines
http://www.worldairlineawards.com/Awards_2014/lowcost2014.htm

All your answers can be found in or from the WSJ article
CaptainFreedom
CaptainFreedom 3
lol the competition for best airline in North America is analogous to deciding which ball team is better this year; the Astros or the Cubs? I'm also assuming that they are only considering large international carriers, because Westjet consistently destroys AC in overall customer satisfaction. No, there's no 1st class section or executive lounge, however the general attitude and friendliness toward all passengers is 10X better than AC.
haydenpellegrino
Southwest also has great service, so I'm surprised
yr2012
matt jensen 1
SWA didn't score in the top 40. I guess it isn't that good eh?
stevooz
steve rogers 2
west jet may be good , but next time I fly to hong kong I'd rather be in a 777 than a 737 , west jet is a discount carrier , but good chances if they ever get in to the international game , they will give ac a good run for there money .
brianrush
I have flown both . Air Canada needs some friendly people to work for it - then maybe - just maybe It would rate. from the desk to the cabin they have too many unhappy people.
decee
decee 2
Today is not April 1!
yr2012
matt jensen 1
Not one US carrier in top ten. That says something right there. I fly AC all the time - they may not always be on time, but my bags arrive with me. Cathay Pacific has always been #1 internationally.
imdorn
I D 1
Below is what Air Canada sends in response to email to customer support
Form your own opinion. :-(

<[email protected]> wrote:

Thank you for contacting us.

This is to confirm that we have received your correspondence and there
is no requirement to re-submit your information. Our processing time is
currently 15 business days for general customer concerns, 25 business
days for baggage related issues and up to 4 weeks for baggage tracing. We
will make every effort to respond sooner.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as you await our response.

***Please do not reply to this email, it is an automated response.***
------------------------------------------------
yr2012
matt jensen 1
Not one US carrier in top 40. That says something right there. I fly AC all the time - they may not always be on time, but my bags arrive with me. Cathay Pacific has always been #1 internationally.
tesluk
tesluk 1
You're kidding right? If they're best then how bad is everyone else?
haidabrave
Dave Martynuik 1
Air Canada best airline in North America it can't be. West-jet blows Air Canada away in all categories of operation and customer satisfaction,keep up the great work West-jet.
yr2012
matt jensen 0
Really - wj blows
KM001
Ken McBride 1
This is a joke, right?

As an air traveler who has first-hand experience with Air Canada, I urge all consumers to avoid Air Canada whenever possible. A summary of some of Air Canada’s deficiencies follows.

1. Better Business Bureau (BBB) “F” Rating: While a number of airlines, such as WestJet, United and Southwest, are rated “A+”, the BBB gives Air Canada an “F” (the lowest possible BBB rating). This is because of its “complaint history” with the BBB. (http://www.bbb.org/calgary/business-reviews/airlines/air-canada-customer-solutions-ho-in-calgary-ab-30869)
2. Unresponsiveness to Customer Concerns: My experience has reflected that of the BBB. On a 21 December 2013 flight from Vancouver to Paris (costing over $2000), my checked suitcase was lost by Air Canada. One month later, on 20 January 2014, the AC baggage tracking website showed “Tracing continues; please check back later.” This was despite my wife and I doing everything that was asked of us, including completing the required form at Paris immediately when the suitcase did not come through; keeping all our boarding passes and baggage tags; and snail-mailing (as required) a complete 10-page claim report with all documentation to AC central baggage in Montreal, five days after our return to Vancouver, and weeks before their 21-day deadline.
3. No Response in Writing: I requested information using the e-mail form on the AC website, with no response.
4. No Phone Response: We made multiple calls to the AC baggage call center (which is in India, with largely unintelligible representatives), and were simply told to be patient.
5. No Response In Person: We made two trips to AC baggage services at YVR, and were told that they could do nothing.
6. No Phone Access to Canadian Customer Service Department: Other than the call center in India, AC has no customer service phone number. They appear to have a customer service department in Calgary, but it can be contacted only by e-mail (a waste of time, see above) or fax.

Our return flight, through the US with United, was longer than the outbound flight with AC, but was uneventful, and we and our remaining baggage reached the intended destination. Wherever possible, I strongly recommend using WestJet and/or a US carrier.
miles123
Tim Falk 0
Makes me wonder who decides which airline is the best. I think they are all on drugs of some sort. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give Westjet an 11 and Air Canada would not even make the scale.
Handymac
Mac Harding 0
Obviously the people who voted this in have never flown on another airline. Air Canada should be only flying Cattle or some other form of barnyard animal as that's the way they treat they're customers..... Like animals with no rights what so ever.....
DanWardlaw
DanWardlaw 0
Hmmmm, North America??? And what type of drugs were these people on when they flew with AC. Cause all of my experiences have all been negative and the people that I've talked to who have flown with them have been negative. What were they flying, coach or snob class.. Whatever drugs it was I want some.
NevadaStorm
Sheila Pearse 0
You won't ever see me on an AC flight. I had a really bad experience with them so if I can't get to where I want to go with another airline I will stay home. My preference is definitely WestJet. I've flown with them many times and have absolutely no complaints. I think once Calgary finishes the new terminal you will find AC is going to have some tough competition for Europe bound flights. I would fly KLM and do a transfer to avoid AC.
PeterAshby
Peter Ashby 0
From my personal experience on two recent AC flights,
the reviewers must have been pinball players ; "Tommy" e.g. deaf, dumb and blind!
brianrush
Maggie - our last trip to Hawaii on Air Canada was our last trip on AC . The plane was 3 hours late coming home and the cabin crew service was despicable. My wife went to the back galley to ASK if she could have some water - the two women were back there arguing and openly ignored her. Then at Vancouver - we did not make connections and the was NOT one AC person to meet us to deal with all the passengers. So Westjet or Alaska is our mode of flight to Hawaii each year now.
MaggieCampbell
Sounds awful Brian. I can certainly understand you being put off AC. We had the exact opposite experience on our Hawaii flights. We were blown away by the cabin crew and how they went above and beyond the call of duty. As well when I travelled to Israel this past April, I had no complaints at all. I guess it depends on which crew is working. I hope you filed a complaint about what happened.
brianrush
we did , there was more the story even , we arrived Vancouver about 3 am, no one to tell us which hotel was available so my wife started phoning around, found two hotels because there were about 15 of us I think. then we had to call AC number for rebooking. some the next morning arrived at airport to try and rebook.

AC offered us 5000 points for all the trouble . Hmmm. you are right - it seemed a crew issue.
imdorn
I D -1
OK It seems more evidence is required.

Below are just two of my AC travel experiences.


Last year flying home from San Juan on AC was almost impossible.

AC has no people there. United handles their flights. Their agents had NO information from AC!

AC 956 flies to SJU and returns as AC 957. Passengers on 956 told us the aircraft taxied out to the runway on time but had to return due to a trouble alert. Hours later they were allowed back on the plane. Apparently there was no mechanical problem at all. Or none that AC would tell passengers about. Regardless, by then the flight crew had "worked" too long and had to be replaced, resulting in further delay AC956 arrived SJU 7 hours late An hour later we were on our way on AC957. Arriving YYZ in the wee hours of the morning.

AC offered me NO explanation, no compensation, NOTHING.

Not enough evidence. Keep reading.

On another trip to Chicago these issues arose.

1. Advance selection requirement and cost not indicated until after purchase.
2. Miles are not credited to frequent flyer programs on A class fares, This is also revealed after the fact.
3. Flights were changed completely by Air Canada without notice. I had to
call and switch to United Airlines flight because the return flight
showed a Beachcraft 19 seat airplane which I noticed only because I
checked the reservation for another reason.
4. I could not check in online despite meeting all requirements. I have a common name.
Some with the same name are BAD people! I emailed PAS Specialist/Security in advance as I always do. Despite past successes, this time it did not work as it should have.
I have no issues of this nature with any other airline in the world. I have a redress number for flights to
the USA due to the common nature of my name. I have a NEXUS card! Only Air Canada puts me
through this additional process and this time it failed anyway.
5. Long holds on the telephone. Call back only occurs several hours later. During the hold time you are repeatedly advised to use the web site to contact customer support where once you send a message if you do it fast enough (see next item) you get the 15-25 day response time message that I posted previously, in your email.
6. Disconnection in the middle of the composition of a message to customer service.
I had to compose the entire message again, complete the entire information form again, upload the attachments again.

No wonder people get annoyed and think that Air Canada has deliberately
done this to frustrate them and force them to give up. The fact that it
is easily avoided makes Air Canada’s method seem absolutely ridiculous.
Other companies handle this very differently on their online systems.
There is no impatient cutoff warning. There is only a question. "Do you
need more time?" That is far superior to abrupt disconnection. Assignment
of a fixed time is yet another indication that AC believes that all
issues are the same and not worthy of more time and probably irrelevant.
Why bother with this feeble attempt at equity given that Air Canada runs
almost all aspects its business based on "classes". Examples: fares,
types of seats, associated legroom, provided food, access to advanced
seat reservations and baggage restrictions. Air Canada has missed an
opportunity to charge a fee for extra time to compose a message.
Imagine how well that would be received.

7. Air Canada appears to have completely lost any concept of Customer
Service. Cutting appears to be the Air Canada way. Cut off before I could
send this message the first time. Cuts to previously included services.
Cuts in staffing. More cuts to services as a result of staff reduction.
Longer wait times on hold as a result of staff reduction.
They are in a vicious circle of their own creation! All of the
above are a strong indications that AC does not care about the client.
Revenue is what they are about!

8. At this time I have decided not to fly Air Canada.
That has now become the main factor in my Terms and Conditions of doing business with Airlines.
carnoustie
Martin Allison -1
My take on it is they get voted the best because there is little or no competition to the places they fly, a good airline would not add 27 seats to the 767's they fly under the "Rouge" name, I hear nothing good about Rouge!!!

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