At Air Inuit monopoly, passengers treated like cattle

Air Inuit has an interesting policy. If, due to an unforeseen storm, a passenger misses their plane then that individual can return to try and get on the following day’s flight, assuming the storm has cleared.

On April 5, this happened to me and two travelling companions. On Friday we returned and the weather was fine. We were given standby status by the Air Inuit attendant, who was helpful and polite, in Quaqtaq, the village from which we are attempting to depart.

We have now been bumped from two flights today, and are having to book extra days at the local hotel. We will return again tomorrow once again on standby, in other words, with no special priority.

I have two problems with Air Inuit’s approach to dealing with passengers who have missed flights due to factors out of their control.

First, very little attempt is made to ameliorate the situation by providing extra flights or sending larger planes to accomodate the backlog created by storms or mechanical failures, both of which are frequent.

Second, the passenger is left with the feeling that he or she is the cause of the problem. In fact, unforeseen circumstances happen all the time due to no fault of any one person.

My suggestion would be that Air Inuit at least make some attempt to address these problems. They could do this in the ways mentioned above, as well as the following suggestions.

First, they could update their policies to be more in line with other more professional airlines.

This would entail establishing clear guidelines for dealing with passenger backlogs and stranded passengers.

The implementation of such guidelines would increase the efficiency of Air Inuit, resulting in greater customer satisfaction. I say this as a professional with work trips in Nunavik.

There are many others such as myself who live in the South but need to travel north for business. Instead of discouraging such business by creating barriers to smooth travel, Air Inuit should encourage business, which will benefit the economy in the form of increased investment in the north.

Second, Air Inuit should make an attempt to break their fatalistic mentality with regard to dealing with extra passengers.

As it stands now, the onus is put upon the passenger to find their own solution. Because Air Inuit has a monopoly in this area they continue to get away with the poor treatment of customers.

If competition were introduced in the North, perhaps this airline would be forced to become more accountable. In that case it is almost certain that their customers would stop being treated like cattle and begin to be treated with some respect.

As it stands now, I am seriously considering my options, including reducing the amount of business I do in this area.

As a warning to potential customers of Air Inuit I would say buyer beware!

In order to reinforce my message more strongly, I am posting this message on Air Inuit’s Facebook page, as well as my own.

Gwilym Lucas Eades, PhD (McGill)
Montreal

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