Open Letter to Montie Brewer, CEO of Air Canada

Dear Mr. Brewer,

I am calling for your resignation as CEO of Air Canada. The company is in a shamble and you, like your predecessors, are clearly incapable of cleaning up this horrid excuse for an airline. Air Canada is the butt of every joke (ex. Air Canada. We’re not happy unless you’re unhappy). And it’s completely understandable. Lost luggage, oversold flights, long delays, slipshod customer service: The list goes on and on.

Let me relate my newest reason for never again flying Air Canada.

On February 18 of this year my family and I flew from Calgary to Cancun. When I was told that we were flying with your company, I cringed. Anybody who has ever flown with you will understand why I felt that way. I guarantee you this will be the last time that I, or any member of my family will fly your airline.

We arrived in Calgary at 6:45 that morning. Our flight to Cancun was scheduled for 8:50, arriving in Cancun early in the afternoon. Because I only had one week off of school, and because we booked late and could not fly until that day, we wanted to make the most of our short time in Mexico. We were incredibly disheartened when, upon arriving at our departure gate, we learned that our flight had been delayed until almost 2 P.M., which was approximately the same time we were destined to land in Cancun. We now could not expect to get there until after dark, essentially you robbed us of an entire day of our vacation.

That was bad enough. Then it got worse.

We were given absolutely no reason for the delay by any of the Air Canada staff we questioned. A couple of them referred us to the customer service desk. At the very least, we were told, we could receive some breakfast vouchers. As you are probably aware, however, the customer service desk was closed, and would not open until 9 A.M. You would think that a customer service desk would be open when the customers require that service, but not at Air Canada. That was the metaphorical salt to the wound. Not only were we stranded in the Calgary airport, without breakfast, but we could not even know the reason for the delay. Hunger got the best of us, and we ate a breakfast which we had to pay for ourselves.

Finally with full stomachs, our moods settled. We sought out the customer service reps at the now open desk, and we were told that there were technical problems with the airplane, another plane was being re-routed, and that they would have us out of Calgary as soon as possible. We believed them. How could we have been so naïve?

The plane was again delayed another half hour. We thought we would never get out of that wretched airport. Then, like the voice of God traveling from the heavens, we heard over the loud speaker: Air Canada flight number 1864 to Cancun is ready for boarding.

A sensation of utter elation overcame me and the crowd of stranded travelers as we finally took our seats in the cramped plane. Then came the pilot’s voice over the PA informing us that because the plane we were on was not originally destined for Cancun, the computer navigation system had to be reprogrammed, further delaying the flight. I looked at my watch, it was 3:30, then I dozed off. I awoke one hour later, and to my surprise we were still on the tarmac.

We were understandably upset, but then your company spat in our faces with the offer of a measly fifty dollar credit for Air Canada Vacations. After 8 hours in the airport, fifty bucks come out to less than the minimum wage in Saskatchewan. Of course the amount was raised to seventy-five dollars, after the navigation system incident, but it made little difference. Also, the credit had a 1 year expiry date. Many of the people on the flight were students who can afford a trip like this once, maybe twice, in their academic careers. Very few if any will be able to take another trip like this within a year.

After spending time thinking of creative places on your body to shove the credit, I suddenly remembered that last year my sister flew to Vancouver with Air Canada, and her luggage was lost. She was given a credit then too, which she transferred to us. However, we were unable to use the credit for this trip since it was good only for Air Canada, and not the Vacations branch. The memory made me think up even more creative places to shove that credit but social grace prevents me from mentioning them here.

Your company is abhorrent. I have heard countless people make countless complaints about Air Canada. Unfortunately the lack of an alternative forced us to use your airline. You can be sure that we will never make that mistake again. The next time your company is facing financial difficulties, I will pray to a god I don’t even believe in that you cease to exist. There are better and cheaper airlines out there that offer excellent service and are worthy of our business. Air Canada is nothing more than an expensive and outdated burden on this country.

In the words of the great Thom York of Radiohead: We hope that you choke.

Sincerely (incredibly sincere),

Stefan Schussler

Note: This letter was originally published in the University of Regina's The Carillon in an edited form as "Hey Montie--this is for you!" V49 I18, March 8-14, 2006. Pg 19.

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