I arrived early this morning at the Air Canada check-in area here at Halifax International Airport to find about 200 people in the line. Despite the fact that they’re pushing people to the automated check-in kiosks, there was no dedicated bag drop-off area, so checking my bag would have involved a wait that looked like about an hour. So I dumped my “liquids in containers of more than 50ml” and decided to carry-on instead.
I found some hidden check-in kiosks out in the main departure lounge, printed a boarding pass, breezed through security, and was cappuccino-laden 10 minutes after airport arrival.
I’m mindful of the fact that this is probably exactly what Air Canada’s vision of heaven is — passenger check-in with no need to actual staff. I suppose if they continue to decrease the number of counter staff, this is what we’ll all inevitably be pushed into. I just pitty the single parent traveling with 2 kids and 4 bags who has to wait in line.
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I am Peter Rukavina and this is my blog. I am a writer, letterpress printer, and a curious person.
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Comments
I sometimes wonder if I think
I sometimes wonder if I think certain things [about airlines] because I’m told I should. Here’s what I mean:
Despite a present phobia that keeps me earth-bound, I was once a frequent flyer. About 2/3 of all flights were international, and half the remainder to smaller airports in Canada: Saskatoon, Regina, Brandon, etc..
When I first heard complaints about airline food and airline service I just shut my mouth because not only were complaints the majority view, but it was uncool to say you enjoyed the stuffed chicken breast with dill sauce, cranberry dressing, and the just-slightly-more-than-blanched-crisp-snapping veggies. When they had it, I generally liked airplane food.
I remember being treated fairly well by even the busiest check-in/baggage attendant (no matter how much peanut-butter she was wiping from her lifting hand) and like royalty by flight staff. On the other hand, that was a long time ago, but I still find myself fairly ok with long waits at airports for the privilege of rapid transport. ( now, If it wasn’t for that ‘bush pilot’ who did aerobatics in calm air all the way from Victoria to Calgary a couple of years back… I might have more data…)
I remember the old Ch’town
I remember the old Ch’town airport in the 70’s and 80’s when EPA flew those white turbo-props and AC had their DC-9 fleet and CP Air flew the (very loud) orange 737’s… The airport had only the big 03/21 runway and the green shell of a terminal building on Brackely Pt. Road (now renovated for general aviation, Prince Edward Air, etc.). The control tower was a little taller than the tree house I had as a kid and the runway asphalt was very pitted and bumpy as it hadn’t been paved since the air force operated the place in WWII. It was a fantastic little place - now the new terminal built in the late 1980s seems so cold and institutional. I still remember seeing Charles and Di fly out of there in 83.
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