Say What You May About AC....

[Four1oh]

What I would like to know is why you only compare yourself to American carriers for OTP. Why not any Canadian carriers?

Last I heard, AC didn't report their OTP to the standard everyone else uses, so WJ reports to the same standard the rest of the list does. That way we get an apples to apples comparison(except against AC)

[jjj]

Most of the delays seem to be related to the Sabre cut over.

Anyhoo,

I'm back to work tomorrow so you have a 3 day reprieve from JJJ.

Enjoy the time off.

[square]

I fly airlines 4 times a month. I take the cheapest ticket. I've been delayed by both airlines, AC seems a little worse but they give me one free drink when I've been delayed over x amount of time so OK that's nice. One free dollar for me awesome.. (more free dollars would be better.)

They both get me from A to B, I can't say I'm really that picky.. the whole debacle with competing opinions seems kind of retarded to me, to be honest. They're doing their jobs, nobody's doing anything ridiculous like cancelling flights out of hissy fits etc so I don't complain, because personally, I've delayed flights for periods of DAYS people. I made a troupe of 4 fishermen wait at the airport right in front of me for 3 days. I could've basically ruined their whole trip and cost them tons of money without blinking an eye, but their boss gave them a bit of leeway to stay out of town.

So yeah.. if I get delayed 30 minutes cause there's a lineup at the de-ice bay, or because YVR Airport Authority doesn't understand that you need snowplows in the winter in fucking Canada, I'm not really gonna hold it against them. These guys provide fair value and I'm happy with both airlines. It's not only the fastest, but the cheapest and the safest way to travel, so f off if you're gonna go railing against the best friends of the traveling public. Let's leave the mudslinging to the news outlets and PR firms.. we're all in this boat together.

[Rockie]

What I would like to know is why you only compare yourself to American carriers for OTP. Why not any Canadian carriers?

Last I heard, AC didn't report their OTP to the standard everyone else uses, so WJ reports to the same standard the rest of the list does. That way we get an apples to apples comparison(except against AC)

Well I just learned a couple of things. First, Air Canada does measure their OTP the same as everybody else and does report it. Second, it seems there is no Canadian comparison, only an American one. So Air Canada only compares itself to American carriers just like Westjet does. If we want to know how the two compare to each other we have to look at the numbers separately, like this:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/otp/index.html

http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/experie ... ance.shtml

[flying4dollars]

I've flown both carriers a fair bit. Do I have a preference? YES! Whichever offers the best departure/arrival time closest to suit my needs for the trip.

Really, I've had good and bad experiences on both. Mostly good, VERY seldom has it been bad to the point where I've been disgruntled. When flying AC with stopovers, I've had my connecting ticket given to me with no seat number. This has happened 4 times within the last 2 years. 3 of those times, I was moved to business class for their mistake. That's service. WestJet employees are all very polite and cheerful. I've had pleasant conversations, interactions and experiences with them. I know AC's attitude is a bit different, but it doesn't disgust me. Maybe thats just my luck, or the fact that as soon as the gear is up and the view is boring, I go to sleep put on my "wake me up when we get there" mask.

In either case, I will still continue to fly either carrier without hesitation.

[yycflyguy]

What I would like to know is why you only compare yourself to American carriers for OTP. Why not any Canadian carriers?

Last I heard, AC didn't report their OTP to the standard everyone else uses, so WJ reports to the same standard the rest of the list does. That way we get an apples to apples comparison(except against AC)

Well I just learned a couple of things. First, Air Canada does measure their OTP the same as everybody else and does report it. Second, it seems there is no Canadian comparison, only an American one. So Air Canada only compares itself to American carriers just like Westjet does. If we want to know how the two compare to each other we have to look at the numbers separately, like this:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/otp/index.html

http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/experie ... ance.shtml

Interesting how neither WJ nor AC include each other in their own OTP lists... must be part of the "gentleman's" agreement after the corporate espionage handshake.

[sky's the limit]

Ok,

Flying home on Monday, any WJ Capt's on here that can get us a First Class upgrade??? My sister flies for BA and is going home Club Class with her husband.... I'm having some jealousy pangs to be honest.

stl

[Tiny Voices]

I can offer you a set of Junior Pilot wings, a rub on tattoo and have the FA's set you up with two packs of snack mix.

[Sergeant Hartman]

North American carriers have a long way to go on the world stage in terms of service compared to some of the airlines I frequent, including KAM Air out of Afghanistan last year - really...

What do they do so well?

[sky's the limit]

North American carriers have a long way to go on the world stage in terms of service compared to some of the airlines I frequent, including KAM Air out of Afghanistan last year - really...

What do they do so well?

On time.

Friendly.

Excellent food.

We didn't get shot at.

And only four demands for bribes on the way out of Kabul last time.... none of which were paid of course, easy peasy! Oh, and loading your own bags onto the plane ensures you don't loose baggage - if it doesn't get loaded, it gets blown up.

Flew back WJ today, late again, but only 45 mins which was not a big deal on the return leg. Also baffled as to why they have no vegetarian sandwiches stocked on board, seems a bit of a no-brainer these days. My Wife doesn't eat meat so the Bits and Bites sufficed.

stl

[Flightlevels]

your attempt at humor is pretty lame too!

[sky's the limit]

your attempt at humor is pretty lame too!

Who's "attempting humour?

stl

[Machiavelli]

There's a delicious lentil/curry wrap that's available. Must have been sold out by the time they got to you STL.

Check that, it might only be available out of YVR.

Why were they late this time and how late were you at destination?

[sky's the limit]

There's a delicious lentil/curry wrap that's available. Must have been sold out by the time they got to you STL.

Check that, it might only be available out of YVR.

Why were they late this time and how late were you at destination?

This time we were only 45mins late which wasn't a big deal as we had time to blow on the far end. I was half asleep when the Capt gave an explanation, something about finding a crew... but there must be more to it than that, I just missed it.

Both flights had no veggie option, either out of Calgary or Comox, on the return my Mother had us loaded up with enough stuff to feed the entire airplane though....

When did they start charging for movies on the TV's?

Oh, and I checked in online and took Emergency Aisle seats at no extra cost.

stl

[Machiavelli]

Before Sabre, you could check-in 24 hours prior and seat select at no cost. I assume it's still this way.

We gave out free headsets when the TV's were new 4 or 5 years ago but that didn't last long. I'm pretty sure that we've always charged for movies.

New tails 255, 256 and 257 are to be online right away with new seats and bigger TV's.

A 45 minute delay still sucks. It sounds like you were waiting for the floater, which is a fourth F/A. We've been running with crews of 3 F/A's augmented with 1 floater who often comes off of another flight. Either that or maybe somebody called in sick last minute.

There's not much for food choices out of YQQ because the flights to YYC and YEG are short. What's available as Buy on Board is determined by flight time and city of departure. Longer flights=more choices.

[complexintentions]

I believe a lot of the delays are still due to the switchover to Sabre.

If you think that's bad, wait until they switch over to Mercator for their accounting backend...I had to shake my head when I read they were the launch customer. Bad, bad move...don't they know ANYTHING about the Middle East?! WestJet was always so innovative in their in-house IT, now they're racing the other way with the least-innovative company in tech (after Microsoft), the IT division of Emirates. Have to shake the head.

And AC's product continues to improve, I'm tellin' ya. Pushed back on the minute, pleasant service, smooth from start to finish. Can't ask for much more.

[Machiavelli]

I didn't mean to imply that Sabre is not causing delays because it is. It's just not the end-of-the-world scenario that some may make it out to be.

For the week ending November 8th, our rolling 30-day OTP is 69.1%. I would expect this number to rise as we get past including the first few Sabre days of October 17th and 18th. They were bad.

[sky's the limit]

Thanks Machiavelli.

stl