Here is Air Canada’s reply to my recent letter. Another example of “economics” trumping customer service. What about MY customer service?

Response (Debbie Mcammond) – 06/22/2007 01:19 PM
Dear Mr. Barker,

Thank you for your email outlining your concerns regarding our recent decision to no longer accept pets as checked baggage.

We review all our policies, procedures and services on a regular basis to ensure that our product offering responds to customer demand while keeping pace with industry standards and economic realities.

As you are aware, effective July 15, 2007, we will no longer accept pets as checked baggage. We will honour bookings which have already been made.

Our reasoning behind this decision is to effectively handle the high volume of baggage loads and meet the needs of the vast majority of our passengers. With the record load factors we have been experiencing, and with current security measures in place, we have more checked bags than ever.

Animals carried as checked baggage restrict us as to the amount of baggage we are ultimately able to carry on any given flight, thereby inconveniencing other passengers as we have to offload baggage to accommodate the oxygen circulation requirements for the pets.

While we recognize we have disappointed you, we do hope the above will allow you to better understand our decision.

Sincerely,
Customer Relations