An occasional series about travel

I

‘ve been thinking about how I can better help the beleaguered employees at Air Canada because I don’t think I’ve done enough yet to take on sundry aspects of their jobs. After all, I now book my own flights rather than use a travel agent; I check-in online so that they don’t have to do that; I tag my own bags using the new machines at my airport; I load those bags onto a scale and at some airports I even carry the bag from the scale to a belt, ever eager to respond to the bark from a seated scowler that the “wheels go up”. I now present only a credit card on board so that employees don’t have to make change when I buy the overpriced food.

But it’s not enough. I’m wondering if I should offer to bring a broom and dustpan so that I can clean the floor in the AC ticketing area. And what about packing a kettle and some tea bags, instant coffee and creamer/sugar… which would allow me to whip up the hot drinks in the galley once we take off. And really, why should the employees have to sell the headsets and gather up the newspapers at the end of the flight… I think I can handle those tasks.

Bring it on Air Canada… there are so many new ways to cut costs, outsource even more tasks to your customers and ensure that your employees have pleasant flights.