Travel News Today

Once again Newfoundland and Labrador is on the receiving end of a decision that makes absolutely no sense except to cause suffering.

On the one hand, we are being told that the Newfoundland and Labrador economy, with the exception of the fishery, is growing and booming.

At the same time, we are losing a profitable service that is necessary to fuel that growth. In our incredulity, we are obliged to beg the question, Who sanctioned the asinine business decision to stop the Air Canada flights from St. John's to London?

It is understood that the flights are not being cancelled because of a case of poor business, but because of intensive lobbying from Halifax. This is one more glaring example of rationalization winning. Only this time, it is not St. John's dumping on the outports, but Halifax dumping on St. John's. Why is the downside of rationalization so difficult to comprehend?

Surely, if the province is to prosper it has to be given a fighting chance. And that begs another question — When have Newfoundlanders ever been given a fighting chance?

Over the past century, we have never hesitated to step up to the plate, fight and lose young lives to protect others. Who cares?

Just as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians fought honourably during the First and Second World Wars and the Korean Conflict, we are fighting in Afghanistan. When the world calls, more of our youth respond than youth from any other province in Canada. Canada's top general is a Newfoundlander. Still, it appears that when people are categorized as underdogs, they are expected to give their lives for their superiors without asking too many questions, or expecting any rewards.

Are we foolish, or what? What is it that we have to do to become visible to the people in the corridors of power? It's not because we don't have fellow Newfoundlanders in authority that we are invisible. We have always had — supposedly — good representatives in the nation's capital. As well, we have always had Newfoundland bureaucrats in key positions. What happens to them when they get there remains a mystery.

It appears that very few of the leaders keep the province's interests at heart after they are shown Ottawa's light. In my view, the decisions made in Ottawa, with the full participation of Newfoundlanders, have been responsible for the pickle in which we find ourselves today.

My family is one family that has been affected greatly by the Air Canada decision to stop the London flights. My family members take the flight to and from London on a regular basis. Between now and September, there will be three round trips to Europe. One person will return after the London flights cease to operate.

News of the termination of the flights from London to St. John's came after the ticket had been booked. A quick check online confirmed that we couldn't book anything through St. John's, or even Halifax, that involved a date in September. But with no e-mail from Air Canada, ever the optimists, it was assumed the Air Canada decision might be reversed through lobbying from Newfoundland and Labrador.

Imagine the surprise yesterday, when it was discovered that the return flight, dated after Sept. 4, had been modified and the modifications did not meet the original requirements of the passenger. We were told an e-mail had indeed been sent to advise of the changes.

What was to be a pleasant journey to London and back, was now going to be a nightmare. The new booking involved arriving in St. John's from Toronto around 15 minutes after midnight, and leaving for Gander at 7:30 in the morning. What used to take around eight hours, was now going to involve an overnight stay.

Call me paranoid, but the sequence of events around changing that change was an exercise in psychology. The computer (?) gave the hardest route and times back from London. The Air Canada operator — who could not be faulted in any way —, after checking the flights, confirmed that there had to be an overnight either in Toronto or St. John's.

So now, there was a choice of where to overnight. Montreal might have been an option, but by now the tiredness was paralyzing.
You know how it is when you are holding the phone and getting nowhere. Pretty soon you are ready to accept anything.

And that was exactly what happened when the operator said, «Wait a minute. Let me try something.» What was that about paranoia…. naivety? Then she said excitedly, «There is a flight to Halifax from London around noon. It arrives in Halifax shortly after 1 p.m., and there is a flight from Halifax to St. John's around 5 p.m. Please forgive me, but the words from my mouth were, «That's perfect!»

It was only after the phone was replaced in its cradle that the penny dropped. Air Canada had worked its magic by offering up all the difficult choices, and when they had me primed, they gave me the carrot. And it was all too easy to accept. Is that what happens to our representatives in Ottawa? Heaven forbid.

(The Beacon)

[tags]Newfoundland, Labrador, Air Canada, Flights[/tags]