Air Canada gets it wrong. Again.

Air Canada is a classic case of a business without a contingency plan.

It consistently alienates its customers and when the blowback becomes fierce it then changes tack.

It was chaotic during Covid with lost bags and cancelled flights the norm. It was sadly under-prepared and passengers paid the price.

And now, after rorting its staff so they went on a five-day strike, Air Canada is again playing catch-up after leaving passengers stranded and refusing to pay their food and hotel costs.

Oops! But finally the airline realised the publicity it was getting was dire.

Suddenly Air Canada has announced “enhanced compensation” after several days of leaving thousands of travellers broke and anxious

The comedy capers airline will now cover ‘reasonable’ hotel costs, meals, ground transport and other related expenses for travellers who had cancelled or heavily delayed flights in the past week, news hub Travel Mole reported.

“We deeply apologise to all customers whose travel plans were disrupted, and we’re committed to making things right for all customers — particularly those who were stranded during their trip,” Air Canada EVP Mark Nasr said.

“Earlier this week, we put in place a special commitment to reimburse out-of-pocket transportation costs, including on other airlines, rail, ground or ferries. Today, we are taking another step forward to make things right.”

Air Canada said compensation claims must include receipts for travel and hotel expenses and can be submitted online.

About 500,000 passengers had their flight plans upended due to the strike which started last weekend.

Travellers left stranded in Tahiti

There are worse places to be stranded, but hundreds of travellers have been left in limbo in French Polynesia.

A cabin crew strike by union members at Air Tahiti Nui has forced the cancellation of multiple flights.

The indefinite strike has seen Air Tahiti Nui flights to Auckland - which are codeshare services for Qantas customers.

It affects connecting flights to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth for those stuck in Tahiti.
Flights across French Polynesia are also impacted.

Cabin crew have walked out over pay and conditions.

“Each customer will be contacted individually as soon as a new departure option is found,” the airline said.

“Our teams are also actively involved in finding accommodation solutions to minimise the inconvenience.”

Full refunds are being offered for customers wishing to cancel their tickets - although their options are limited.

Flyers are being advised to confirm flights and to not check out of their accommodation until onward travel is confirmed.

Passport office strike: travel misery post-Brexit goes on and on

Travel in and out of Britain is already a lot more cumbersome and time consuming than it used to be - one of the many "benefits" of Brexit.

Now a passport office strike could spell disaster for the holiday plans of thousands of Britons already suffering from the folly of their political masters and their own stupidity in voting to leave the EU.

Over 1,000 workers at the passport office will go on strike for several weeks from April 3, Travel Mole reports.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union warned of a ‘significant impact’ on the processing of passports

About one quarter of all passport office workers will strike.

The proposed industrial action will impact locations at Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough and Southport.

It could potentially affect the handling of an estimated one million passport applications.

The PCS union said the Passport Office strike is over an imposed, non-negotiable 2% pay rise.

The union says it was forced into the "significant escalation" as ministers ‘have failed to hold any meaningful talks with us.’

ProWein delegates warned to prepare for "chaos"

There are thousands of wine exporters from around the world - including many from Australia - ready to descend on the German city of Düsseldorf for one of the most important events on the wine calendar: Pro Wein.

The event starts on Sunday and runs until Tuesday, but unfortunately coincides with a Düsseldorf bus and metro strike.

"Public transport in Düsseldorf and the region will be the subject of a strike by the Verdi union on Monday and Tuesday, March 20 and 21, 2023," event organiser Messe Düsseldorf announced.

"The strike will start at 3 am and will last 48 hours."

Unfortunately, the Düsseldorf exhibition centre is located well away from the city centre in the direction of the airport.  

The hunt for taxis promises to be a competitive sport but organisers have announcd that shuttles will run every 30 minutes to the exhibition center from the airport and Düsseldorf Central Station.

Queues for the Düsseldorf metro and bus can already be substantial in normal times, wine website Vitisphere reports, adding "these exceptional conditions raise fears of some form of chaos."

The 2023 edition of ProWein is expected to welcome 6,000 exhibitors and over 50,000 visitors. 

'Tis the season for travel industry strikes

Military personel will be deployed at major airports across Britain as members of Britain's Border Force plan for strikes over the Christmas holiday period.

The Ministry of Defence this week confirmed military have already been on site at London’s Heathrow (above) and Gatwick airports preparing to cover if the strikes go ahead.

Border Force officers are set to strike from December 23-26 and 28-31 at airports that also include Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham and Glasgow, industry newsletter Travel Mole reports.

The armed forces personnel have been training at the airports ahead of the planned strikes and many of them have had their leave cancelled.

Overall, around 600 personnel have been called up to help during the planned strikes.

The strikes would cause "serious disruption", British Home Secretary Suella Braverman has warned.

“I really want to urge people to think carefully about their plans because they may well be impacted,” she said.

“If [workers] go ahead with strikes there will be undeniable, serious disruption caused to many thousands.”

The planned strike - to be conducted by members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) union - will likely cause delays to security checks, resulting in lengthy queues and knock-on disruption, Euronews reported.

Yet another issue at troubled Heathrow Airport

 

Barely a week goes by without some report of issues at London's Heathrow Airport.

The latest is that ground workers at Heathrow have started a three-day strike over a pay dispute.

The Unite union, which represents the workers, says the strike involves 350 workers employed by sub-contractor Menzies.

Unite says it could disrupt flights departing terminals 2, 3 and 4.

Flights operated by Air Canada, American Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Air Portugal, Austrian Airlines, Qantas, Egypt Air, Aer Lingus and Finnair are most at risk.

The walk-out is over a "derisory" pay offer by Menzies which is effectively a "real terms pay cut," Travel Mole reported Unite as saying.

“They had every opportunity to make a fair pay offer, but have chosen not to do so,” Unite regional officer Kevin Hall said.

Heathrow Airport said in a statement that it is "in discussions with airline partners on what contingency plans they can implement".

A separate dispute involving Menzies and dnata ground staff was resolved meaning flights taking football fans to the World Cup in Qatar will not be affected.

Strike disrupts weekend travel plans

The French love a strike.

Particularly when it is as disruptive as possible. Blocking major roads for hours and inconveniencing commuters and other travellers are familiar tactics.

This week it was French air traffic controllers causing chaos at airports including Charles de Gaulle (above) in Paris.

The strike - and staff shortages - forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights.

France’s aviation authority, the DGAC, this week asked airlines to slash schedules to minimise disruption - a bizarre concept.

Airlines including Air France and budget carrier Ryanair were badly affected with Ryanair saying the main impact came from limits on overflying French airspace.

Ryanair blasted the "unjustified strike, which achieves nothing but disrupt thousands of European citizens/visitors’ weekend travel plans".

French air traffic control union SNCTA said in a statement that the walkout by its members was over the effects of inflation and its demand for more staff members. 

"It is inexplicable that thousands of European citizens/visitors will have their travel plans unfairly disrupted by yet another French ATC (air traffic control) strike," Ryanair said in a statement.

The Irish airline said the travel plans of 80,000 passengers had been affected when it had cancelled 420 flights, many of which were to fly over France.

Air France said it would operate only 45% of its short and medium-range flights but 90% of its long-haul flights.

Low-cost carrier EasyJet said it had cancelled 76 flights due to the strike.

Some local airports were temporarily closed, including Montpellier and Rennes, Travel Mole reported.

Major airports in neighbouring countries also felt the impact, with Spanish airport operator AENA saying it had been forced to cancel 65 flights.

The air traffic strike has followed unrest from pilots and baggage handlers, who are are asking for pay increases and better working conditions.