Who is the worst Canadian based airline?

[buckybruce]

Since Air Canada is back from the dead....please submit your choice for WORST Canadian based airline, charters, and regular scheduled flights.

Air Transat

Air Canada

Jetsgo

Westjet

Skyservice

Canjet

Jazz(Air Canada)

Kelonwa Air

None of the above, I only fly American or international carriers

 

[buckybruce]

Whoops....missed Jetsgo in the actual poll...could one of the moderators add that in? I can't edit it...

 

[rama putri]

Compared to many US carriers, Air Canada is a God send. Too bad we Canadians are so cheap we can't see that and support our national airline.

 

[Tank69]

Well, I have absolutely no experience with American carriers, so I can't comment on them, but I have flown on several European and Domestic carriers numerous times, and I will say that, IMHO, Air Canada is the most disgraceful 'Full-Service' carrier ever. Poor service, bitchy personnel, terrible amenities, terrrible food. I'm talking about food poisoning, inconsiderate and rude flight attendants, numerous delays, and Young Frankenstein as the In-flight movie on a Toronto-UK route, and broken seats on more than one flight. I'd rather fly Air Transat or Zoom than ever set foot on another Air Canada plane, and all this nonsense about supporting our 'National' carrier doesn't wash. Just like every other poorly-run Corporation in Canada they just want us taxpayers to bail them out for gross fiscal mismanagement. Of the European carriers I strongly support KLM with their cheerful, friendly (and I will add, VERY attractive) flight attendants, excellent food, tremendous beer selection, numerous choices of Inflight entertainment, etc. If flying to Amsterdam and catching a connecting flight to my usual destinations didn't add a couple of hours to my travel time I'd fly them all the time. I've also had excellent flights with BA and Air France, and the food on an Air India flight was good, as long as you enjoy curries, which I definitely do.
Cheers

 

[Back Burner]

I agree with you Tank, but believe me, a lot of US carriers are worse.

 

[rama putri]

I too have flown many, many European and Asian airlines. Air Canada does not have a monopoly on "Poor service, bitchy personnel, terrible amenities, terrrible food. I'm talking about food poisoning, inconsiderate and rude flight attendants, numerous delays, and Young Frankenstein as the In-flight movie on a Toronto-UK route, and broken seats on more than one flight."

I know there are much better airlines out there - Virgin, Singapore, BA, to name a couple. But some of the claims are just outrageous. I fly, on avaerage 4 times per month. Mostly US carriers, but about 10 times a year to Europe and 2 times a year to Asia. Air Canada is not at all as bad as everybody - and everybody is mostly Canadians - says it is.

 

[mister.b]

good point rama i've travelled us carriers and they treat like a herd of sheep

 

[gypsy121]

I have to agree with Tank. I fly on a weekly basis to the US and for years used Air Canada exclusively. Partly due to the 'our national airline' attitude. Eventually, even though I am an Elite Aeroplan member and can use their lounge and perks, I switched to an American carrier and everything about them has been fine. There is no longer anything glamourous about flying as there was years ago so if an airline is 'fine' (on time, relatively pleasant staff) that is all I ask. Unfortunately after flying with Air Canada over 300 times I realized they were getting worse not better. I know that many of the problems dealt with by the first line staff are not of their making but that does not mean they do not have to be professional. My company, like many of yours I am sure, screws things up sometimes and as the front line staff I take the heat from the client. I choose to do that because the benefits outweigh the annoyance. I think working at Air Canada is probably an unpleasant thing at times but ultimately it is better than working the night shift at Tim Horton's and when I go in there I usually get, at least, fair service. Not something that can be said about Air Canada.

Now I would like to say that I have certainly met Air Canada staff who have gone above and beyond. This said when one catches a flight they deal with a number of staff. All it takes is one of them to be a pain in the ass and they all get painted with the same brush. Since the chance of travelling without at least one one AC staffer being arrogant, unhelpful, or just plain rude was diminishing I took my business elsewhere. I did make Air Canada aware of this even to the point of mailing my Aeroplan Elite card back to Robert Milton. A few months later I received a letter saying essentially 'sorry you feel that way'.

Rama is also correct there are crap American airlines but of the ones I have flown and that is all the major carriers and several smaller ones. I find that Air Canada's level of service has deteriorated to about the middle of the pack among U.S. airlines.

gypsy

 

[someone]

For domestic travel I always try to avoid Air Canada. They are fine if nothing goes wrong but are horrible to deal with when there are problems. Domestically, I only take it when problems with connections make the alternative impractical (For example a trip I made between St. John’s and Nanaimo last year). That being said, when flying through the U.S. Anything is better than American Airlines.

 

[Rufus Doofus]

I travelled with Continental over Labour Day and was quite impressed. Flew on an Embraerererererer (whatever) and found it far more comfortable than the usaul fare.

Short diatribe, walked up to the desk for a one way ticket from Edmonton to Toronto on Air Canada. The plane was leaving in an hour and the cost was $1,500 and change. Didn't say thank you, didn't scowl, smile, shit my pants - anything. Just picked up my luggage and went to the Westjet desk. Paid $275 CAD and got onto the plane to Toronto thirty minutes later.

Here's to Air Canada and maybe they can sponge some more money off the government in order to buy up the competition. You never know, maybe the feds would lease the Trans Canada to them and turn it into a toll road.

 

[lickrolaine]

The only bad airline is the one that did not get you there.Pack a lunch and head to Van for a buck,yep,a buck,add in the taxes,100 bucks,still a good deal.Jetsgo rules,show me cheaper then it sucks,lol.

 

[happygrump]

The entire North American airline industry is a textbook case of the havoc that can arise after deregulation. We were supposed to get better service, better fares and more airlines because "market forces" would be the determining factor. Now we've got crappy service, high fares and fewer airlines.

Best airline for my $$ is Air New Zealand, but that only works of you're travelling to the Pacific.

 

[drlove]

Canjet - No frills at its worst.

 

[drlove]

bb...

Your thread is about the worst Canadian airline, yet your poll asks us to choose the best...

How many of you picked up on that one??

 

[someone]

Re: bb...

Your thread is about the worst Canadian airline, yet your poll asks us to choose the best...

How many of you picked up on that one??

Opps. I made that mistake and picked Air Canada thinking I was being asked to pick the worse.

 

[drlove]

Re: Re: bb...

Opps. I made that mistake and picked Air Canada thinking I was being asked to pick the worse.

I'm sure you're not the only one...

 

[drlove]

Kind of negates the validity of the entire poll, IMHO.

 

[someone]

Best airline for my $$ is Air New Zealand, but that only works of you're travelling to the Pacific.

I always found Quantas to be much better than Air NZ. However, the problem with Quantas is that their North American partner is American Airlines which is much worse than even Air Canada (Air NZ's North American partner).

 

[buckybruce]

Re: bb...

Your thread is about the worst Canadian airline, yet your poll asks us to choose the best...

How many of you picked up on that one??

I know, I know...gentlemen please accept my apologies for this...first time I had ever tried to do a poll...thought it would be a timely topic since Air Canada is out of the penalty box...I thought the poll should read who's the BEST....yet I made the thread about who's the WORST...at least it was interesting to read some of the horror stories...for those who care, I've flown Air Canada, Skyservice, Air Transat, British Airways, Canada 3000, and American Airlines, and I would have to say British Airways was the best regularly scheduled international carrier, and Canada 3000 the best charter(although Skyservice is getting better planes). Best charter airline of all time - Wardair...not that many will remember then...

Interesting thing I've noticed....when you fly Air Canada vacations using the regulary scheduled flight through Air Canada, you get a much more reasonable departure and arrival time than the charters...God, I hate going to the Caribbean on Skyservice, most of the time you have to leave at 6:00am, and your return leaves at 8:00pm or later....

 

[drlove]

Re: Re: bb...

...God, I hate going to the Caribbean on Skyservice, most of the time you have to leave at 6:00am, and your return leaves at 8:00pm or later....

True, but at least you're maximizing your time away. I actually prefer it like that.