Efficiency
Talking to people about this problem, I heard all sorts of stories. Within Air Canada, there is a deep rooted sense of Government bureaucracy inherited from the days when AC was a Crown Corporation. A few examples.
How many times does it happen every day that an aircraft arrives at the gate on sched and has to wait, engines running, 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes, for the ground crew to show up before it can be parked. When they do arrive, look out the window. They are never in a hurry, quite the contrary.
Recently, I was on an Air Canada flight. The front end put the parking brake and waited a short time for the ground crew to show up (less than 5 minutes, but we did wait) and when the aircraft was finally parked, the bridge put in place and the door opened, there was no ground agent in the bridge. Air Canada rules state that there must be a ground agent in the bridge before anyone can be let out. We waited in the aircraft at least 10 minutes after the door had been opened, until the captain got out of the cockpit, went into the terminal and came back two minutes later with a ground agent in tow. When I walked out, there were several ground agents milling around the gate desk, chatting.
Another case I heard about. An airline employee goes to buy a car. At the dealership, he recognizes a senior Air Canada ground agent. This AC ground agent also works full time at the dealership. The airline employee enquires on how this person can find the time to work full time at the dealership and at Air Canada at the same time. It turns out this AC ground agent who makes a high hourly pay and has full time shifts can sell his shifts to junior ground agents who have low salaries and part time shifts. Air Canada pays the shift to the senior agent at the seniors' salary, who in turn pays the junior agent the shift at that agents' lower salary. The senior makes $100 per day profit on the junior, while working full time at the dealership. It seems that Air Canada attempted to stop this practise but ran into the opposition of all union groups involved. This seems to be widespread.
A new aircraft technician gets hired a few years ago. He is given a work order to go fix an aircraft in the hangar. He completes the job in 30 minutes and comes back for more work. His supervisor tells him the job he was given was a two hour job and instructs him to go have coffee with the others for 90 minutes before coming back for another work order. At night, the Air Canada maintenance hangars are full of pick nick tables with Air Canada technicians killing time for their next work order. When a technician works efficiently and quickly, he is quickly warned by the senior technicians to slow down, less the junior make them look bad. I was told it is a common sight to see aircraft technicians sleeping in Air Canada aircraft in the hangars at night.
Talking to people, one hears dozens of such stories, all of which are part of the overall Air Canada problem.
As long as a large proportion of Air Canada employee will continue to have that mentality that Air Canada is Canada's flag carrier that the Federal government will never allow to go under, things will not change.
Like Sabena, Swiss Air, Eastern or Pan Am, Air Canada can and will go under if it doesn't become a model of efficiency at all levels of the company. Having most seats sold on a fleet of modern fuel efficient aircraft is not enough. All involved have to pitch in. This is not what is happening.
Air France and BA were able to turn a profit despite very heavy Collective Agreements and High salaries. Air Canada can do it too. If not, it will follow the example of Swiss Air and Sabena, whose employees, all thought until the very last day that their governments would never allow their airlines to fold, yet fold they did.
Last edited by Minorite invisible; 30th Apr 2009 at 18:37.