Expectations are that memories of disruption will fade
A Mississauga travel agent says she doesn’t expect that any anger now directed towards Air Canada because of the fallout from the labor dispute with its flight attendants will lead to any long-lasting damage for the airline, especially as the carrier has introduced an “Exceptional Disruption” policy.
News outlets over the past week have frequently carried stories of Air Canada clients whose travel plans were disrupted, forcing them to find alternative ways to their destinations, not always easily done.
The flight attendant dispute was front and centre news-wise, particularly when the union defied a back to work order.
Sheila Aue of Trevello Travel Group told Travel Courier that the strike didn’t affect her personally but it “drastically affected many of my colleagues and their guests. Many important events and plans were affected all over the world due to this shutdown.”
But Aue predicted any current bitterness or unease among the travelling public about booking Air Canada will gradually fade.
“I doubt if consumer confidence will be impacted dramatically,” she stated. “Most consumers understand the issues and are empathetic towards the flight attendants or the airlines. Consumers may be hesitant at the start, but they will eventually come around.”
Paul Nielsen of Toronto’s Paragon Travel agreed that Air Canada won’t see long-term consumer confidence loss.
“Clients pick an airline using a curious collection of criteria that includes route, airline loyalty and price,” he said. “The route decision is mostly because one airline has an exclusive route or dominates that route. Aeroplan has a huge following tying clients to Air Canada and that sometimes off-sets the importance of price.”
“Those who are affected by a cancellation or disruption will carry a grudge towards the combatants with the balance tipped in one direction or the other. That grudge will fade in short order based on the first two criteria,” Nielsen added. “When all is settled, the three main criteria will bring the majority of Air Canada clients back.”
Nielsen said other airlines were “raking in the bucks getting ready for their cyclical labour disruption, just as Air Canada will do during their competitors’ labour disruption.”
Pat Probert of Bob Family Travel, another Toronto agency, said what happened at Air Canada made it challenging both for Air Canada clients and travel agents alike, adding he was “humbled” when a senior manager at Air Canada Vacations reached out to him personally, asking if all was okay during the dispute. “That was a true class act.”
Bob Family Travel’s Mary de Almeida said in turn applauded a TravelBrands’ employee for her response to the strike.
“Having true partners like TravelBrands is also amazing. When we had a client stuck in Las Vegas and the manager got on their computer at home and helped get one of our VIP clients on a flight Saturday night and back home to family, it made us look like a rockstar but it was [TravelBrands’] Reneta that was the rock star and they never get the credit. This is above and beyond what is reasonable but that is what the team at TravelBrands does and we are thankful.”
But Probert denounced the behaviour of some airlines during the past week.
“What I am appalled at, and the government needs to step up to the plate, is when some other airlines triple or quadruple pricing overnight when clients are trying to get back home to loved ones or work, which is what happened on Saturday for some of our clients,” he said “This is just not acceptable. I am okay for a reasonable increase but not of this magnitude and I will remember the airline that did this. People have a right to strike but clients should not be taken advantage of like this.”
Meanwhile, Aue gave the travel agent community a pat on the back for the way it responded to the Air Canada situation, saying they worked “tirelessly behind the scenes trying to work their magic and get clients rebooked or rescheduled without compensation.”
