Air Canada - Part Dieux

I was hoping for some Air Canada redemption on our return flight today. No redemption appears in sight.

I checked in 24 hour in advance and almost wasn't even able to sit with my wife. We ended up at the back of the airplane but at least seated together. Paying for an assigned seat still baffles me. It is idiotic.

My wife and I arrived before four AM for our six o'clock flight. There was already a long line for baggage drop. There were self help kiosks that no one appeared to be using,nor were they being instructed to. I went ahead and printed luggage tags and boarding passes which I think is how it is supppsed to work.

Because no one appeared to be doing the precheck in procedure, the baggage drop was heavily congested. The clerks ended up printing everything rather than just verifying boarding passes and scanning the luggage in. It took us forty five minutes to clear the baggage drop.

Security was just as bad. The security line backed up because it didn't even open until we had been standing in line a few minutes. There were only three lines open, creating an additional delay. We arrived at our gate as boarding commenced.

The boarding process was more efficient than in Toronto, where they waited for zones 1 and 2 before proceeding, even when no one was in either line. This plane boarded faster. The plane was older, but the bathrooms were clean on this one. And the flight attendants seemed more cordial. So air Canada gets credit on those two counts.

We arrived at Toronto with a healthy layover. Returning to the US, you clear customs while you are still in Canada. We had plenty of time to clear customs and even time to eat a late lunch. Our gate changed twice in the interim. When we arrived at the final change, we waited to board but no information was passed until well past the scheduled boarding time.

We were then advised that we did not have a plane and that our flight would be delayed for more than an hour. We have been sitting here waiting, anxious to return home. In the chilly hallway of a terminal that is pretending to be a gate. It is now our second boarding time. No information is being passed. Aggravating.

I believe that is our plane right there. If only we can get on it and head home. Hopefully the facilities in board are better than the one we took up to Canada. Looking at that plane, my expectations are low.