The woman behind the counter at the Air Canada Lounge in the Los Angeles airport seemed pretty nice when we first met her. She told us about the air conditioning issue (very cold in there!), and efficiently went through her spiel on where things were.
That friendliness, it seems, was not reserved for everyone.
An Asian gentleman showed up shortly after. He didn’t have a Star Alliance Gold card, and (apparently) one of the other cards he tried to use couldn’t be honoured because of the flight time. It was one of those classic situations that require grace and diplomacy. She had none of those things.
She was clearly irritated that he would even consider coming into the lounge. The air was filled with ‘Yergunnahafta”. Her tone of voice was cold and abrupt. Every time he asked a question, it just seemed to annoy her more. I really felt bad for the guy. I have no doubt that she had some rules to enforce, but… she showed so very little skill in doing it.
Air Canada does pretty good, all things considered, at the check-in areas and on the planes. The gates and lounges are 50/50 – with some staff being friendly, and others completely uninterested in customer service. This lady was both. It seemed that, if she wanted, she could be very friendly. But if she didn’t take a liking to you – eek!
