Jazzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......
Sleeping passenger left on plane. British passenger discovered by mechanic at YVR 1½ hours later; airline apologizes for gaff, saying flight attendant was preoccupied with wheelchairs.
By Damian Inwood,
The ProvinceApril 6, 2010
A British law professor is slamming Air Canada after the airline left him asleep on a plane for 90 minutes after it landed -- and he woke up in a hangar at Vancouver International Airport.
He says he's not satisfied with the airline's explanation that the flight attendant was dealing with several wheelchair passengers and didn't check the rest of the cabin.
"It's absolute craziness," said 31-year-old Kris Lines, head of sports law at Staffordshire University.
"The last thing I remember was taking off from Calgary. I knew I was safely on board and there was no further destinations and it was all good.
"Somebody would wake me up at the end."
What he didn't expect was to be woken by a mechanic after the Air Canada Jazz plane was towed into a hangar at YVR.
The incident happened on March 6, when Lines was fast asleep near the back of Air Canada Flight No. 8229 from Calgary. He said he was slumped against the window with a bright-red jacket on the seat beside him.
"I'm a heavy sleeper, so I drank Coca-Cola on the transatlantic leg to help stay awake," said Lines, who spoke to The Province from his home in England. "I hadn't been drinking alcohol."
Lines was coming to Vancouver to speak at a sports conference and visit a colleague in Kamloops.
He flew to Calgary from London's Heathrow Airport and had a two-hour stopover before continuing to Vancouver. Lines left home at 5:30 a.m. and his final flight was due into Vancouver at 6:42 p.m.
"I'd been up for about 24 hours," he explained.
Lines said that, when the Vancouver mechanic woke him, he was disoriented and in a rush to grab his bags and jacket and get off the plane.
"He said, 'Don't worry. You should have got off an hour-and-a-half ago,' " added Lines.
"They took me off the plane down the steps into a hangar, took me into a room, photocopied my boarding pass and said, 'This sort of thing shouldn't be happening. Somebody's neck's going to be on the line for this.' "
Lines said he sent an email of complaint to Air Canada.
"If I'd been a vulnerable passenger, a young girl or elderly, it could have been a lot worse," he added.
"The other implication is that if I was a terrorist, then I've got an hour-and-a-half after the plane's landed, all by myself, in a secure area on a plane."
Lines said he was unhappy with Air Canada's response.
"I suppose the moral is, next time I fly to Canada, I've got to wear something a bit more reflective or glow-in-the-dark so someone can see me."
Lines received an email from MaryAnn Morgan, in Air Canada's customer-relations department.
"Although there was no excuse for the incident that occurred, it appears the flight attendant on this occasion was dealing with several wheelchair passengers and co-ordinating their departure from the aircraft," Morgan wrote.
"Although the flight attendant advises he did look back into the aircraft to check for any passengers still on board, he did not walk through the aircraft cabin as he was engaged with handling the passengers in wheelchairs requiring assistance.
"I can assure you that no previous incident of this nature has occurred and that this matter has been thoroughly reviewed with the crew member concerned and other crews operating similar aircraft to ensure an incident of this type does not happen again."
Morgan offered Lines a "one-time saving" of 20 per cent on up to four tickets "as a gesture of goodwill."
"Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you on this occasion," she added.
Air Canada Jazz spokeswoman Debra Williams also apologized, saying the airline operates about 800 flights a day and "this was an isolated incident."
"It is standard operating procedure for inflight personnel to check the aircraft after a flight for passengers and any belongings that may have been left on board," she said.
Williams added that the company conducted "a thorough review with the crew member involved and with other crews operating similar aircraft to ensure that an incident of this type does not happen again."