British Columbia
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Our much-anticipated trip to Canada's west coast has gotten off to a good start. We managed to get through the entire nine-hour flight without little Kenny getting at all upset. One thing that helped in this was the use of a day room at Narita airport that allowed us to get rested and to have quick showers. It makes a big difference, especially for an evening flight coming at the end of a long day and a long train ride out to the airport.
I have to say that I was surprised at the backwardness of the Air Canada service. At the Narita end it took us fully 45 minutes to check it, to begin with. This due to the unreadiness of the staff and some unannounced restrictions that caused us to have to repack at the last minute. In the end, we were denied a bassinet for Kenny though we'd booked one well in advance. Then there was the flight itself. The captain decided to demonstrate his might by having a mildly inebriated Japanese businessman removed from the flight. With the need to comb through the baggage to remove the fellow's checked-in items, that led us to being nearly an hour late.
Frankly, I could see the point of protecting the flight staff from having to deal with a drunken passenger, but in this case the flight staff didn't seem to think it was a big deal and the whole thing seemed quite unnecessary.
Then there was the state of the plane. From my dealings with the Japanese airlines, I've come to expect that there would be consoles at every seat. But this plane was a holdover from the 80's, with no consoles at all even in the business section, and only one of the primitive three-colour projectors hanging from the ceiling and a single screen. The staff, too, seemed a bit past it as Air Canada staff so frequently have since the merger with Canadian some years back. There's a certain fatigue that seems common with the Air Canada staff, and I think the basic reason is simple over-work. There just don't seem to be enough staff on the planes.
But maybe I'm just spoiled by the service levels in Japan. I know this is the case with restaurants and stores.
In any event, the weather was particularly good and it was great to see the family again. It was the first time since March of '06 that I've seen my sister-in-law Heidi, for one thing. It was also the first time we'd got a chance to see the lovely house they're renting in North Vancouver. Each room has its own bright colour, and they've furnished it very well without going overboard at all. It's certainly something we miss in Tokyo -- space!