More airline craziness

unityco

unityco

Ambassador - CPS Technician
We just got back from another cross-country excursion, and neither flight went particularly well. I wanted to share the CS related bit, though.

We were flying home via Calgary on WestJet (our previously preferred airline.) The check-in woman was quite snarky, but the crazy part is she demanded to weigh DS's carseat! WTH? WJ's policy is that carseats that the child will be using in flight DO NOT count as carry-on, and if it had been overweight what would she have had me do? Cut a chunk off it? I've never had *any* carry-on weighed for WJ before, including for the flight we took out there the week before. She told me quite sternly that the Radian was *exactly* 22lbs (the carry-on limit.) Thanks lady - if it had been over we'd be talking to your supervisor - I bet this seat (and our family) has done more miles on WJ than you have. Oh, and while she was so concerned over the carseat's weight, neither she or anyone else ever checked to see that it was certified. :rolleyes:

I'm sad that our WestJet experiences have been becoming progressively less pleasant. We've been so pleased with them in the past. :(
 
ADS
marchofemily

marchofemily

Member
Sorry you had the hassle! We are flying on Monday from WI to Nevada, and this will be the first time we've flown without a seat. Emily will have a TB waiting for her when we arrive there and then it's being donated to a local family service organization.

I can't believe I never had a problem with her MA all these years when I read about all these cs hassles.
 
unityco

unityco

Ambassador - CPS Technician
Yeah, that's one thing I'm looking forward to when we get out of a harnessed seat. Hucking the Radian through airports is sure getting tired (although boostering my kid in my parents' older, lap-belt cars will bring a whole new level of complication. :rolleyes:)
 
C

canmom

New member
Westjet has always been awesome with us and seats. I think you must have got someone new that was trying to do everything by the book.... some ppl feel they need to impress. I think she missed the section of the manual that states car seats aren't considered carry on. I had AirCanada tell me my seats were too big for carry on (it wouldn't fit under the seat in front of me)).... I was trying to fight them and DH made me shut up he gets embarrassed easy). Then when I did get the seat on the next flight they told me my son had to be less than 23lbs to use it RFing... I told her the limit of the seat was 30lbs and I couldn't get a good install FFing (never have on a plane with my MA). She let it slide because it wasn't safe installed FF... I gave her a wink and said he was 22lbs. She told me that the FAA or something only allows kids to be RFing till 22lbs??? But she allowed it "this time".
 
unityco

unityco

Ambassador - CPS Technician
canmom said:
Westjet has always been awesome with us and seats. I think you must have got someone new that was trying to do everything by the book...
Click to expand...

Yeah, we've usually had good luck with WestJet too. I don't think this lady was a newbie though - she was just sour. She gave us more trouble than just the carseat story I've related here. We've flown them a lot and have really noticed a downward trend in customer service lately. :(
 
Morganthe

Morganthe

New member
They weighed dd's seat for our Korean flight r/t... but I think it was more to figure for airline weight & fuel than trying to enforce a limit.
 
Pixels

Pixels

New member
canmom said:
She told me that the FAA or something only allows kids to be RFing till 22lbs??? But she allowed it "this time".
Click to expand...

The FAA allows carseat use according to manufacturer's instructions. That means to seat limits.. That doesn't mean that the person you were talking to wasn't misinformed or just plain wrong though.
 
C

canmom

New member
I figured she was wrong on that... I tried to tell her the limits of the MA but she said they have their own seperate regulations?? I wasn't going to push it since she allowed me to use it they way I wanted anyway.
 
unityco

unityco

Ambassador - CPS Technician
And the FAA doesn't have jurisdiction in Canada - it would be Transport Canada. Most of our airlines' written policies DO have references to weights lower than what our current selection of carseats would support, though. :thumbsdown: (Generally those lower weight limits are ignored.) None of them, however, have a policy on the weight of the seat itself.

Morganthe said:
They weighed dd's seat for our Korean flight r/t... but I think it was more to figure for airline weight & fuel than trying to enforce a limit.
Click to expand...

I've been "randomly" chosen at the airport to be weighed (along with all my carry-on) for a survey being conducted by Transport Canada to check the accuracy of "estimated" passenger weight. In that situation, I was told clearly why I was being weighed, and it was clearly not the airline doing the weighing. The person weighing me explained that generally, airlines use an average weight/passenger to figure fuel use (and that formula is getting out of date as our collective waist lines expand :eek:) In any event, DS and his seat, ticketed as an adult as he was, would not weight as much as an actual adult. :shrug-shoulders:
 
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