RECLINING STANDARDS

On July 30 I took an Air Canada night flight from Toronto to Manchester. When I tried to recline to get some sleep, the seat would not recline at all. A crew member said she would find an empty seat. More than an hour later, she had not come back so I got up to find her. She said there were no seats available. I asked to speak to the supervisor, who hurriedly told me there was nothing she could do right now. I explained that I was not very happy, and she said she would give me a complaint form. She did not apologise that the seat did not recline and no assistance was given.

Air Canada offered a 10 per cent saving on the base fare of my next flight, but as it no longer schedules from Manchester to Toronto, I would not be able to use it [Editor’s note: the route is scheduled to run from June 3 to September 30 this year]. As it was more reasonable to refund 10 per cent of my ticket, I requested they do this. The airline said it would not be able to. It is now clear that the lack of service and empathy in-flight is also prevalent in the customer services section. Nita Patel, Manchester

AIR CANADA REPLIES: We are sorry that Miss Patel was disappointed with the service she received and that her seat was not fully functional. Air Canada is committed to providing its customers with quality service throughout their travel experience and we have contacted her directly to apologise for the inconvenience caused. We have also offered a discount on a future trip as a gesture of goodwill.