Leaving on a jetplane

I don't get it. Given the choice between working with a jerk and a nice guy, why would anyone give business to the jerk?

Maybe the jerk gives the best back rubs, pumps up the egos with pomp and circumstance and tells us how special we are. I don't let businesses that act like jerks anywhere near my back. I don't trust them. They probably have a knife waiting to steal my wallet.

Yet we accept jerky mediocrity in the airline industry.

In Canada we have two choices: Air Canada and Westjet. One has an extensive network while the other is trying everyday to prove its worth.

I had the pleasure to fly on the monster this week.

I've never been afraid of flying. But this experience made me happy to be on the ground.

The service at the gate was equal to my mobile phone contact centre. I'm used to it, so I accept it. But it was the lack of attention to details that nearly soiled my pants.

Sitting in seat 6B, I looked out at the wing to see a missing rivet. One rivet is not big deal I try to convince myself. The rivet had purpose. If not, it would not have been drilled. Now, it's gone. Does that mean the plane will fall apart? I don't think so.

I could've gotten over the damn rivet if I wouldn't have seen the peeled paint caused by a previous fire from the propeller engine. This plane had engine problems at some point in the past. Was the problem in the air or on the ground? Was I going to have to open the exit door? I heard the co-pilot but I hadn't listened to him. Would people depend on me to save them from this death trap? Doesn't the company see this as a problem?

I reached down to pull out the evacuation procedural manual to know my role in the worst of scenarios. In doing so, I pulled the back of the seat from 5B onto my lap.

In my panic, I wanted to abandon ship. I wanted to call my wife to tell her I loved her. I turned on my music and sunk into a make believe world where only unicorns and fairies exist. The reality was too real.

Luckily I am not afraid to fly. I know flying regulations are tight. If the jerky airline would have painted the wings and replaced the missing rivet and fixed the upholstery in 5B, I would not have worried. But this inattention to details made me worry about the potential bigger problems I couldn't see from my seat.

I don't trust this airline. I don't think they would ever hurt me on purpose. It's that they don't take care of me on purpose that pisses me off.

And that's the problem!