Ghost of a flea: Another Air Transat update

April 13, 2005

Another Air Transat update

After trying several numbers for Air Transat I gave up and tried Expedia.ca once again. It took another two calls but, having refused to help me the first time I contacted them, they have belatedly decided to address my concerns and contacted Air Transat for me. Sure enough, both my scheduled flights are on an Airbus A310. Let's see... Air Transat have yet to reply to two emails I sent a month ago, will not answer their telephone and have me booked on the same model aircraft that lost its entire rudder section on an Air Transat flight out of Cuba. Discount travel... you get what you pay for!

Given the lousy service I have received from Air Transat and Expedia.ca I suggest Flea readers everywhere avoid this airline and book flights through a travel agent and not Expedia.com. Expedia offers the illusion of convenience but leave you with no intermediary if anything falls off an aircraft you might be asked to fly.

Here is my latest attempt to contact Air Transat by email. Perhaps they will reply to this one.

Dear Air Transat,

This is my third attempt to contact you by email. I have tried to contact you by telephone and through my agent Expedia.ca. The following email was sent to this address on March 16, 2005 and you have yet to reply. I now learn through Expedia.ca and Conquest tour operators that my flight will indeed by an Airbus A310.

1 - Why have you not replied to my earlier emails?

2 - What safety checks have been carried out on the A310 I will be flying to and from Toronto? Specically, have you carried out an X-ray inspection of the tail/rudder sections of your A310 fleet in addition to visual or tap (acoustic) testing?

3 - Am I scheduled to fly on the specific aircraft that lost its tail section on a return flight from Cuba?

Yours,

Update: Time to talk to the organ grinder:

Dear Airbus,

I have booked a return flight with Air Transat, a Canadian charter company that flies a fleet of Airbust A310 aircraft. As I am certain you are aware, one of these lost its rudder section on a flight from Cuba recently. I have tried repeatedly to contact Air Transat regarding their inspection procedures. Despite having written three times to Air Transat I have yet to receive any reply regarding my concerns about the safety of their aircraft. Are you aware you are selling aircraft to airlines that will not address passenger safety concerns about the A310? More importantly, why should I not cancel my flight and reschedule with an airline flying a Boeing product?

Yours,

Update: "Airbust", what an hilarious Versprechen Fehleistung! I could die laughing! Literally!

Update: So here I am searching for consumer advocate resources at the Canadian Consumer Information Gateway and guess which name comes up number five in the tourism "complaints" section. Could it be... Air Transat! If Air Transat does not offer a prompt reply my next step is a formal complaint to the Canadian Transportation Agency. Not that I expect much from a government department whose airline contact information includes JetsGo (corrected, please see below), a carrier that went bankrupt a month ago. These federal bureaucrats tell us we should always contact the airline with our complaints first. Concept. But if they do not dismiss our concerns out of hand there is always the following:

The Air Travel Complaints Commissioner's role is to assist air travellers in resolving their complaints against air carriers through mediation techniques. Where a satisfactory resolution is not achieved, no further recourse is available.

So... what possible reason would an airline that won't even answer email or the telephone have to take seriously anything your toothless "mediation techniques" have to offer? And what are your tax-payer funded salaries for exactly?

Update: Oops! I was thinking of JetsGo which went bust rather than WestJet that did not. Thanks to an eagle-eyed commenter!

Posted by Ghost of a flea at April 13, 2005 05:19 PM

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Comments

Small mistake: Westjet didn't go bankrupt last month. That was JetsGo, which isn't listed.

Posted by: apelord at April 13, 2005 06:20 PM

Thanks! My bad. I am on auto-snide thanks to the run around I have been getting. Perhaps those feds are more on the ball than I give them credit. More than me anyway.

Posted by: Ghost of a flea at April 13, 2005 06:24 PM