Wednesday, April 07, 2010

I'm On a Plane. I Can't Complain.

Brit Law Prof Snoozes, Air Canada Loses!

"The last thing I remember was taking off from Calgary," Mr. Lines, who was en route from London, told Canada's National Post. "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."

That the "somebody" would be a plane mechanic in an otherwise empty aircraft came as a shock to Mr. Lines.

"If I'd been a vulnerable passenger, a young girl or elderly, it could have been a lot worse," he said. "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."

After complaining to Air Canada, he was told that the flight attendant who should have checked the plane was instead assisting passengers in wheelchairs. By way of apology, the airline offered Mr. Lines 20 percent off the cost of four future flights.


I laughed, at first. But he's right. You can't just leave a guy on the plane, in a secure area. Even if he is asleep.

1 comment:

SB7 said...

I think you ought to chance that from "a secure area" to "what ought to be a secure area."

Besides, I'm not sure how they do things at Air Canada, but most US Airlines don't even lock their planes when they're on the ground. Anyone who can get onto the tarmac (and that's typically easier than getting into the terminal) can get into the planes.