Just when I thought there cannot possibly be any other incident worth reporting that I have not already documented, lo and behold…
Ignorance is Bliss
An American family of five heading to Nashville did not get to the airport three hours before departure. But the mother did her best checking in online with Westjet even though booked through Delta originally before arriving at the airport. The application validated her passport but she was unsuccessful in getting the other four passports validated and the system said this would need to be done at the airport. I concluded the check in process had completed successfully because she got her boarding pass. The following four paragraphs are a good example of how complex it can be to get all travel documents you need for a flight when a traveler does not give proper attention to detail, not taking enough time to do a complete job through the process the first time.
Things were not going that well for her at the kiosk for she was getting frustrated using it and being a bit impatient. The check in assistance line was very long which could cause a problem if they needed to join it to obtain the remaining boarding passes in time. The kiosk did print off her boarding pass, but not anyone else and it told her to see a Westjet agent. There was no Westjet agent around with an iPad to help with passport validation. I advised her to ignore the kiosk message and let’s go back in a try again, but have a son stand in line for check in assistance as a backup plan in case we failed using the kiosk.
I asked her to print off her bag tag once I showed where to scan her boarding pass, even though she did not have the other boarding passes. She was trigger happy and frustrated and therefore some of the following steps had to be repeated. The kiosk asked for her passport scan. She had her passport on the scanner backwards and the app told her to see an agent. We went into the app again and the kiosk could not read her passport. I tried myself by repositioning it, but the kiosk could not find it. I pressed harder to no avail and the app's timer showed only 15 seconds left to complete the scan. I took the passport off and put it back on right away and the app found it and was happy. Sometimes the app’s behavior is such that it does not detect that the passport has been repositioned. The system then asked for the other four passports and I was able to get the scans to work by pressing the passport hard on the scanner.
Two bag tags printed off for her luggage, but she needed tags and boarding passes for the others. Time was moving on and the app closes out each time a process step is completed. The fact that the kiosk was taking longer for processing this morning did not help. Next time in the app, she was able to print off all five boarding passes by selecting all! Next time in the app, she scanned her husband's boarding pass and was able to print off his two bag tags but she still needed bag tags for her sons. Normally you can select all family members when printing tags, but the system only highlighted the father when selecting all. We tried again for the sons but the system hung up and we had to go to another kiosk. It was too tired! Actually, being trigger happy I think the kiosk was busy processing her bogus instructions and needed more time to reset.
Using the next kiosk, the system said there were no bag tags to print for her sons. She confessed that she needed to buy a bag tag for each due to the type of ticket purchased. This meant she needed to go into the check in assistance line unless the baggage agent was willing to accept a credit card for purchase. She shuddered at the thought of going into the long line. I talked to the Westjet supervisor and because of the time constraint, she said she would authorize the baggage agent to accept. Good thing because otherwise they would have missed their flight.
What an ordeal, but the family made it!
Security Breach
When we arrived this morning for our shift, there was a security breach message being broadcast across all airport cell phones.
Incident Location: Concourse E. Incident Details: Due to a possible security breach, screening at PBS E has been stopped. This may cause delays for outbound flights to the U.S. Will update as soon as more information is available. Emergency Services Responding.
Oh bother. I thought this was rather strange. Did some traveler create a scene when going through security or tried to barge his way through? After a few more minutes, just before starting our shift, we got an update:
Be advised of the following: Incident Location: Concourse E. Incident Details: Security Incident is stood down. Screening at PBS E has commenced.
Stood down? I never heard of that expression before, but I found out it meant that whatever action was taken before was now cancelled and therefore the security breach incident had been resolved.
Once in ITB (International), there was more than one traveler who came up to me needing to speak to an Air Canada agent as the flight to Newark had been cancelled. This flight was always so reliable and I was curious as to why. There was no one left at the Air Canada counter since it was less than 60 minutes before departure and the counter was closed. I thought maybe there was not enough people flying to Newark to make this trip viable. I sent them to Air Canada Domestic to talk to an agent even though their flight was international.
Once they were on their way, a group of travelers were coming into the ITB to go to the Air Canada counter with an agent. Apparently, Air Canada decided to reopen their counter in the ITB to deal with all Newark travelers to rebook their flight. One traveler said that he was told a tractor/ trailer outside carrying the conveyor belt to load baggage bashed into the airplane when its brakes failed. The dent was enough to cause the airline to cancel the flight due to safety concerns, needing to check the damage first under the plane’s skin before using the plane for flights.
This explains why there was this security breach message earlier. The airline seemed to have followed all security and safety protocols correctly. Air Canada did not want any more travelers going through US Customs to get onto US "soil" post security because once the flight was cancelled, the airline would need to escort any travelers back through security. By stopping E Security, they then checked those people in line to make sure they were not going through to get on this flight.
I noticed that a young lady and a family of three who I had told them to go to Air Canada Domestic did not follow the crowd back into the ITB. I went back to Domestic to retrieve them and found they were still standing in line waiting for service. I told them that Air Canada opened up a line with an agent in the ITB to deal with those who had their flight cancelled, giving them coupons for their inconvenience. By the time they made it back to ITB, they were standing at the end of the line, but there was no hurry since they were not about to catch another flight anytime soon.
Travelers were getting rerouted through Toronto and Montreal in the afternoon to catch a connecting flight to Newark. But as the travelers were getting rebooked, these domestic flights got full. Therefore, the travelers at the end of the line would have to stay 24 hours to catch the Newark flight the next morning. The family of three mentioned earlier were victims for this delay because based on luck of draw, they did not get to the counter ahead of the other travelers.
Careful Who You Trust
One inexperienced fellow booked through Expedia to fly to Denver at 8:55 am. He thought the flight was with United and he stood in line for 15 minutes but there was no agent at the counter. When I met up with him, be found the flight was operated by Westjet and it was 55 minutes before departure already. If he tried to check in online with United before he arrived at the airport, he would have found out the flight was Westjet. He was not in line with Westjet check in assistance and he was already 20 minutes late for checking in his bag. Westjet chased him away and he had to rebook through Expedia. I told him United was flying to Denver at 13:30. He could not get a credit with Westjet due to the type of flight he had and therefore had to pay full fare to fly United in the afternoon.
I never recommend booking flights through Expedia as sometimes the traveler does not pay any attention as to which airline is operating the flight. Some inexperienced people think it is safe booking through Expedia and they will lead you by the hand through the whole process, but no, not even close. It is usually Expedia as a third party that causes such problems for the inexperienced. Too much trust is given the travel agency because of how they advertise that they will take good care of you and lead you through the process.
Ferry Flight
In aviation, a ferry flight, also known as a repositioning flight, is a flight to move an aircraft from one place to another without paying passengers or cargo. These non-revenue flights are necessary to return an aircraft to its home base, deliver it to a customer or maintenance facility, or reposition it for its next scheduled route. I never heard of this term before and I originally thought the spelling was "fairy" flight and that it was an odd name. It makes more sense as "ferry". Three American fellows were standing around the United Airlines counter, but no one around. They were three of the 150 travelers who had their flight to San Francisco cancelled last evening. Most were re-booked onto a United flight to Chicago or Denver this morning, with connecting flights from there to San Francisco. But these three fellows were flying directly to San Francisco at 2:45 PM.
When they were talking to an agent over the phone, they were told that they were on a 10:30 flight the next day and that they should show up at the airport at 8:30 AM. There they were at the United counter on time, but no agent. I checked the screen for flights and the only one going to San Francisco in the morning was Westjet at 9:55 AM. Fortunately a United agent happened to be walking by the counter and we flagged her down to explain what was up. She said there was this ferry flight at 10:30 AM, but no passengers were allowed on the plane. This was the same plane that did not fly the night before and they were flying it to San Francisco for repairs.
The agent from their phone call the day before saw there was plenty of room on this flight and so must have given them the wrong information, not realizing it was a ferry flight. When they received their confirmation email that their flight had been re-booked, the email confirmed they were on the afternoon flight, not what the agent said. My three guys were rather ticked to have gotten to the airport six hours before departure and they all got assigned a middle seat in the economy section and no longer had a first-class ticket! I defended United when they were grumpy and said this could have happened with any airline and it just depends on the competence and experience of the agent they were talking to.
Attention to Detail
Westjet's flight to Heathrow last evening was cancelled due to mechanical issues and travelers were booked on alternate flights today. Some were flying through Chicago or Minneapolis. The problem is those travelers who did not have a Canadian or American passport needed to complete an ESTA form online to fly to the US, even for just a stopover and connecting flight. This is simple and easy but it takes three days for approval. Two different Brits interacted with me because of this as they wanted to get home. One needed a different flight to Heathrow, not through the US, since he had no ETSA as he originally did not need and they did not want to wait until Westjet had a flight to LHR on another day. The other traveler had a five hour wait before flying and was just being talkative and venting. He had a direct flight booked with KLM to Amsterdam for the remaining seat on the plane that afternoon. Good for him.
Language Barrier
A Chinese couple in the domestic terminal, son and mother, could not speak one word of English. Usually, a family will have someone come to the airport with them to translate into English and make sure they get on their flight. This was the worse case I ever had with communication.
I tried to use Translator for communication but they must not speak Mandarin but rather another dialect. Two Westjet staff were trying to help, but were not getting too far either. I left them at a Westjet counter with a supervisor and observed they spent ten minutes with them before getting placed in the check in assistance line for Westjet. The mother looked tired and needed a wheelchair. Westjet concluded they were traveling to Beijing through Vancouver but had not purchased any ticket yet to Vancouver and they may need to go to the Air Canada counter in order to arrive on time to catch their connecting flight. There is a good chance the Westjet agent may not be able to help them once they get to the counter.
We finally found a Chinese lady who we know works for the Calgary Airport Authority and she was going to talk to them to help out. Why did they not book a return flight when in China is the question that I will never know.
Offsite Car Rentals
I started chatting with this elderly lady in the International at 6:45 AM. She was off by herself and I found out she was waiting for her husband who was dropping off their car rental. Since no one was coming through the entrance way as rush hour had not started, I just visited with her a bit. I eventually started to gather more facts for where she was going, but this was not my original intention since everything seemed to be okay. She had a cane, but was steady on her feet and she had a cart with two big suitcases on it, one oversized. I found out she was flying to Detroit at 9:15 AM and so in good shape as to time, so I thought.
I then found out her husband was going to take a while dropping off the car, since the agency was offsite. I then found out this particular location was not going to be open until 8 AM. Their luggage needed to be on the belt and for them to have their boarding passes in hand by 8 AM and so this was not going to work. The husband had originally driven to the car rental agency, but as the place was not open yet and there was a lineup of other cars waiting, he chose to drive her to the airport with the luggage and then he drove back to wait in line. Our friendly chatter turned to a more serious tone as she had a problem as to timing.
Because of having a cane, Westjet allowed her into the special assistance line for checking in so she could talk to an agent sooner. I coached her into trying to get all the luggage checked in and boarding passes obtained in his absence. This was not going to work as the oversized bag was tied to his boarding pass and he needed to show his passport in order to get this tag. While she was in line waiting for her agent to be free, I tracked down a Westjet supervisor and explained her problem and she came over to assist. I made sure I was not stepping over another Westjet agent who had been helping and she was actually quite thankful that I had paged the supervisor.
While I was dealing with other travelers, I noticed she was at the counter for at least 15 minutes. I thought Westjet would override their application to allow the lady to check both bags in her name. What ended up happening with phone calls to her husband, he was able to get the car rental agency on the phone and arrangements were made to have the car dropped off at the airport so that he was going to get to the airport at 7:45 AM, 15 minutes before cutoff. Westjet allowed him to go directly to the counter for an agent once he picked up his bag from his wife.
She was most appreciative of my heads up once I learned the details of their situation since they would have definitely missed their flight otherwise.
Brain Fog
Often you can spot an American right away, especially an older generation. This fellow was a bit overweight and had on a western shirt with snap buttons and worn blue jeans. After my greeting, I asked if he had checked in and he said: "oh yes, I just need my boarding pass."
I noticed he had a bag to check. "Okay, you can print off your boarding pass at a kiosk, and then get your bag tag."
He did not like that idea and said "I will just go over there", being the baggage assistance counter.
I said: " well, they expect you to have your boarding pass before you go to that counter. Why not go into the check in assistance line then, as it is not busy."
" No, no, I will go there and get my boarding pass."
I concluded he was not listening, he was not checked in, and he was too set in his ways to use a kiosk even if he could. He just wanted to see an agent the quickest way in the shortest line expecting priority service, to have them do everything for him, ignoring whatever I said. He went to the baggage assistance clerk, who directed him to go to the check in assistance line, like I had advised him. He avoided meeting up with me again since he ignored me the last time and he snuck past a Westjet check in care ambassador quickly to get into line without the need to answer any further questions. Be that way, I thought.
Very few travelers think they know more than me when it comes to departing through the airport. The only exceptions are the stubborn who insist on doing things their way.
The Younger Generation
A young lady who reminded me of my own daughter knowing the system and how to get her way. She was an experienced flyer and was traveling light, but she still had two personal items and one carry on. One personal item might have been too big for under the seat and therefore could only be considered a carry on. You are only allowed one carry on and one personal item for a flight. Because of this she was trying to check one carryon as a bag, but the kiosk said she was too late, as she missed the cutoff. She should have been at the airport almost two hours sooner, but like my daughter, that is not making the best use of her time and can put a dent in her social life.
I told her to get through security and to her gate with the three items as security would probably let her through. She was already onto this idea as she was born with a few smarts. A GSD (Westjet supervisor) agreed with me that the worst thing that could happen is that she needed to check one item at the gate and that might have cost her $25. Taking the kiosk as the final word would have caused her to miss her flight. What my daughter would have done in the winter perhaps to compress her items is stuff her winter coat with clothing since you are allowed to take your coat on the plane as an extra item. Coats can be stuffed into the overhead cabinet of a plane somewhere. I know this based on learning of her experience with Flair Airlines as they can be picky in order to gain more revenue by charging you for a carry on or a bag to check.
Wearing a Poppy
A few days ago, I reminded myself I needed to buy a poppy as Remembrance Day was coming up quite quickly. I do this because it is right and my father would want me to. I did think this was probably most important for my Thursday shift at the airport as a white hatter since I am in the public eye. I did not need to go to a store other than for a poppy, but knew I had one from a previous year at home I could use as a backup plan, until I could buy one later. I did not think much more about this with other matters on my mind other than to rely on memory recall.
At the end of a rather restless night before my shift, I dozed off in slumber and had a quick dream showing a scene with 11 poppies that you could pick up to wear complete with pins, scattered around in a confined area of dry earth outside. I knew there was 11 because I counted them! There was also an extra poppy off to the side. It was not until later that I revisited the number 11 significance on Remembrance Day being the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month! I quickly concluded that the dream was reminding me to make sure I wore a poppy for my white hat shift!
I am not the best when it comes to remembering detail for what to take with me, especially when I have other tasks to perform. When I got to the airport, despite the reminder from my dream, sure enough I had forgotten my poppy! Darn! Silly me! I met up with Terry and she was missing hers too, as it must have come off her coat on the way from the parkade. I told Terry about the dream I had earlier and this must mean it is quite important for me to have it on my vest today. I thought I might run into someone like a war veteran who would be happy to see me wearing one in remembrance. Therefore, we made sure we went to the 7/11 store on the Arrivals level to pick up a poppy each before starting our shift.
There was a young family who needed advice for my first encounter of the day in the International. The first person to speak to me was not a parent, but rather this beautiful, charming young lady, probably eight years of age, who stepped towards me in a pretty dress and had the warmest smile on her face. She noticed my poppy and commented immediately what I had on my red vest. The poppy was not that easy to spot since it also was the same tone of red as my vest. She was most delighted to see it in place. How many kids would notice me wearing a poppy and commenting about it? We then proceeded to have a friendly chat as if we had known each other for many years. We were fully engaged in our warm conversation, as she let her "light" shine on me. Her parents just let us chat away with a smile on their faces, watching us enjoy our interaction.
There was only one person who noticed my poppy that day, and it was this little angel in the making. I needed to wear that poppy to reassure her of the values it represents.
Winter Solace
A wholesome Ukrainian family of three (father missing, I can only speculate on his absence) were flying to Cancun via Atlanta for a "winter" break. The son, who spoke fluent English made the booking through his research and he used Sunwing. Because Sunwing can fly their own planes, the software allows them to "check in" for their flight and even gives them a boarding pass. But Sunwing does not fly to Cancun or Atlanta as these flights are operated by Westjet. The family thought all they had to do was drop off their luggage once they had a bag tag, but they had to check in with Westjet since they operated the flight.
Sunwing's software should not give the travelers a boarding pass if their flight is operated by Westjet. This process is different from Delta/ Westjet because you cannot use a Sunwing boarding pass to print off a Westjet bag tag. I paged a Westjet agent with an iPad to work with them. The process took a very long time because she had to validate their Ukrainian passports, their Canadian permanent residence visas, their ETSA forms that they needed to complete earlier to go to a US airport even if connecting. This form needed to be approved before coming to the airport because they were not Canadian citizens. Fortunately, they had that process completed beforehand. She managed to get the job done, including printing off boarding passes and bag tags from the baggage assistance counter as needed, in time. The agent thanked me graciously for my help.
Humor is the Best Medicine
I met up with a couple with their dog at the Stack & Press coffee shop. They were refused entry for their trip to the US because the dog and kennel were too big to be carried onto the plane. They were rebooked onto a Saturday flight as apparently that aircraft design allowed a bigger area under the seat to carry their dog: otherwise, they would have to "check in" their dog with a hard kennel, not soft. I told them that they could cut off half of the dog's tail and trim the ears a bit so the dog fit better under a seat, but they said they did not like that idea. Besides, that was not the problem as the dog fit okay in the soft kennel they had and it was that the soft kennel was too big.
My standard joke that gets lots of laughs is when they are struggling getting the kiosk to find the QR code on a boarding pass:" The kiosks peripheral vision is not very good as it is short sighted and needs a prescription change. The good news is that when they get older, they have a tendency to become more far sighted."
There were a few strange things happening today. A young Dutch couple going to Amsterdam with KLM supposedly, but actually found out the first leg of their flight to Toronto was operated by Westjet and they needed to go to Door 2 to drop off their luggage and get their boarding pass when they were at Door 16. They were originally looking for KLM. When they accepted their fate and a walk was in order, the husband took off one of his oxford shoes and started walking from one end of the airport to the other, pulling luggage and with his shoe in hand!
I talked to a policeman who was walking by and I said: "whatever happened, I did not do it."
He said: "nothing happened, I am just doing my rounds." Then he said that he has to watch for the homeless people who take the bus to the airport and look for luggage that has been temporarily abandoned, or is still on the carousel for pickup. Then they have clothes to wear for the winter.