The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Ripple Effects From The Air Canada Strike & The Historic Traveler
The recent labour dispute with Air Canada and its flight attendants caused all kinds of chaos for travelers and the ripple effect is still being felt. But how will their latest settlement affect future labour negotiations. And will all this make your next flying experience better? On this week's show travel expert Onanta Forbes will join me to discuss the repercussions of this latest dispute. Plus, we'll introduce you to Jackie Lapin, founder of the Historic Traveler website, TheHistoricTraveler.com. It's a wealth of information to help you plan or get some ideas for your next vacation from a historic angle.
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveller podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveller. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman. The recent labour dispute between Air Canada and its flight attendants caused all kinds of chaos for travellers and the ripple effect is still being felt. But how will their latest settlement affect future labour negotiations? And will that make your next flying experience better? Well, in a few seconds, travel expert Onanda Forbes will join me to discuss the repercussions of this latest dispute. Plus, if you're a history buff like me, you'll enjoy our conversation coming up with Jackie Lappin. She's the founder of the Historic Traveller website, thehistorictraveller.com. It's a wealth of information to help you plan or get some ideas for your next vacation from a historic angle. But first, let's kick things off chatting with travel expert, Ronanta Forbes, who joins us each week to discuss some of the travel news and travel trends. You can follow her adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and X at Ananta Forbes. AnantaForbes.com is her website. Hello, Ananta.
SPEAKER_00:Hi, Monty. How are you?
SPEAKER_03:I'm very well, thank you. You know, I'm very thankful that I wasn't flying on Air Canada the last couple of weeks. I can't imagine the chaos if you are or were traveling and relying on Air Canada to get you somewhere.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, not only if you were traveling, but if you were anticipating to travel. And I can, you know, I had a client that was in London trying to, we're trying to sort out coming home. So it's not just leaving Canada, it's coming home from Canada worldwide. That caused a lot of angst out there.
SPEAKER_03:Well, yeah. And, you know, so we're going to talk about just some of the ripple effects, the future ripple effects as far as negotiations when it comes to other unions within airlines and flight attendants with other airlines. And just, you know, is this going to make things better as far as the flying experience is what I want to know. It's like, okay, now you got your money. Now you got paid more. You know, is my flying experience going to be better?
SPEAKER_00:Isn't that the question of the day?
SPEAKER_03:And the answer is, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think for, you know, we have to look realistically in this day and age with the cost of living, people are very concerned about their rate of pay. And I think this is what's coming to the forefront, not only for people Mm-hmm. So flight attendants have a huge responsibility for our safety and we appreciate them more than anything because we all want to fly safety. Safety is first. But nobody wants to work for free and I think that's really what it came out to at the end of the day and why this strike kind of went to the proportions that it did. as a travel advisor, I, you know, we have to take care of our clients and, um, we, we, you know, we also work without pay for a lot of things because it's not a nine to five job. So I think this strike is going to help negotiations everywhere. I define the problem of perhaps ridiculous expectations for flight attendants to work without pay. So I think it will continue to focus on when negotiations come into play, what's necessary. But I think too, the union has to look at, you know, they signed a 10-year agreement, right, for it to come to this point. So there was a lot of festering that happened. And it was also a lot of things that happened in those 10 years, like COVID happened. And so a lot of the airlines secured concessions, you know, in the industry during that economic downturn or the pandemic. But now that's over, and we're seeing the increase of interest of travel again. So... Things are busier out there. Planes are full. So
SPEAKER_02:things
SPEAKER_00:are changing. So I think that's why the contract probably had to be changed in a few aspects going forward, which is understandable. But if... If it is going to work, I think it has to work for everybody, you know, including the guests that are traveling. So that, you know, is a strike a good way to get what you want in a union negotiation? Because it sure shut the country down. It sure affected our economy, which is not the best shape as right now. And, you know, right, we're getting... notices from Air Canada to say, well, you know, we got to make this right. So, you know, we're going to pay for the compensation that you are out of pocket for hotels or if you have to rebook. So again, who's paying for that at the end of the day? Like, is it going to come back and are we going to see it in flight fares?
SPEAKER_03:Well, that's, you know, all those, that's a lot of stuff in there that you kind of go, hmm, yeah, I wonder. But at the end of the day, you know, like you, You touched on something that I made a note here. Yeah, it's the guests that get forgotten, right? The customer got forgotten in all of this. Like, you know, okay, we're going to go on strike. I get it. It's a union tactic. And it seemed to work. And the other thing that got me too is just how far the union was willing to go. Like I remember seeing a quote in one of the news headlines, if we go to jail, we go to jail. They were ready to defy the back to work order, which is really something that they really were digging their heels in over that unpaid work, right?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah, that to me was huge because at the end of the day, you know, I'm a law-abiding citizen. You know, if the government tells me to do something, I kind of do it. Like, I'm not going to, you know, that to me is just a fundamental thing. I don't know, law that you have to manage. But I get what they're saying, you know, because planes are getting more consistently crowded. Airlines expect flights to move more quickly. Passengers have been starting to bring more carry-on bags to avoid check fees that many airlines have introduced in recent decades. So the, you know, flight attendants have to deal with that. And also there's an increase in disruptive passengers early in the recovery of the pandemic. That's made the work even more So we get it. We understand that it has to. But it also, you know, it's more of, this is an issue, but it's the airline in general, as far as an industry, has lots of issues to deal with. Like we only have two airlines like we were discussing. So at the end of the day, you know, we're kind of, you know, held tight to what's going on in their world when the guests are concerned. So as I speak, I have to recognize it's a lot of factors involved in managing this situation and also future situations with regards to it seems like if it's not one strike with one entity of an airline, an upcoming strike is going to happen that's going to affect the airline.
SPEAKER_02:So
SPEAKER_00:I think the WestJet flight attendants, their contract is coming up the end of this year. So then are we dealing with it next year in winter months where it's, you know, we all want to
SPEAKER_03:leave. Go through it all over again, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Yeah, it'll be
SPEAKER_03:interesting to see how that affects future negotiations as far with other airlines. If they're, you know, the unions can just turn around and say, well, this is what Air Canada got. We're looking for that and maybe more. I do sympathize with the flight attendants, though, in this particular case. No one wants to see anyone working for no money. And yeah, I get there's other jobs that people, do that they don't get paid for doing some of the things. But I think it's a different world when it comes to flight attendants. You are talking about safety, you are talking about, you know, different things that they have to do and dealing with the public, which I don't know, for some, like for me, you couldn't pay me enough to do that job. But that's another story altogether. This time it was the flight attendants, you know, and then there's the pilots union and there's the ground workers. And it just seemed to be this endless cycle of unions that are upset. But going back to your point, the original contract, 10 years, I don't know why you signed a 10-year deal to begin with. I mean, you agreed to all these things and you signed a deal and then you turn around and say, well, you're not happy. Well, why'd you sign the deal in the first place?
UNKNOWN:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And not that everything in media is true, but you hear rumblings that after the union agreed to this contract, it's tentative. Some of their members, flight attendants, thought they didn't do a good enough job. So then we have to worry about this week where they have to sign for the vote or vote. I hope they're going to vote that they're going to accept it because we don't want to go through another... rolling, you know, issues of are they going to go and strike again if they don't sign this vote or agree to it?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I think one of the things that I was thinking, too, is that maybe it's time for the government to declare that airline service is An essential service. And so, you know, you're lumped in with police officers, firefighters. So your right to strike is limited. Like you mentioned, we only have two major airlines. Yeah, there's Porter and there's some smaller airlines, regional airlines, that type of thing. But really, we have Air Canada and WestJet. And that's our limits. And our country is so large that it is an essential service. It's not just a luxury to fly. It's a necessity for many, many people.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, absolutely. To fly and also to, you know, support, um, rural communities that, that need, um, whether it's, um, you know, inventory or goods and services to come to that location. So, yeah, it's a big picture topic that we could go on for days.
SPEAKER_03:Not solve a thing.
SPEAKER_00:We're going to solve it too.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Onanda Forbes is a travel expert. I guess the big takeaway on this is, uh, But, you know, it's always up in the air, no pun intended, but always up in the air when it comes to air travel in Canada. There could be a labor dispute down the road that you never know of and all the other things that are involved.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And I just like to say, because I am a travel advisor, that's why it's good to book with somebody like myself or someone. a professional that can help you, that you're not alone, that you're not on hold for hours with your airline or whatever services that some strike. We have the technology to hopefully assist you. Yeah, definitely we encounter our challenges too when dealing with this situation, but we'll work for you.
SPEAKER_03:Remember when air flying was fun? I still enjoy it, though. I still
SPEAKER_02:do. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Onanda Forbes is a travel expert. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and X at Onanda Forbes. OnandaForbes.com is her website. Happy flying. This is the informed traveler podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, the informed traveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, you can also email me too, with any questions you might have or any show segment ideas. My email address is Randy at the informed traveler.org. And if you want to get up to date travel info through the week, or just see a few amusing travel stories and links, you can like us on Facebook at facebook.com slash informed traveler. on Instagram at informedtraveller or on X at informedtraveller. Plus, you can now sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our August issue is available now. So just go to our website, theinformedtraveller.org. Click on the newsletter button. It'll take you right there. Or you can subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox each month. So if you're a history buff like me, I highly recommend you check out The History Buff. historic traveler website thehistorictraveler.com it's a wealth of information to help you plan or get some ideas for your next vacation from a historic angle plus there's a lot more a lot more so joining us now to share all the things the historic traveler website can help you with is the founder jackie lappen hi jackie
SPEAKER_01:hi brandy nice to be here
SPEAKER_03:well thanks for doing this uh this is right up my alley i'm a big history buff and uh i like to travel so i'm There's two of the things that are combined. But where did you get your passion? I was looking at your website, thehistorictraveler.com. There is lots of stuff on there, books and articles and ideas and destinations and lots of information. And where did you get your passion for history and travel?
SPEAKER_01:Well, it actually started when I was a youngster, actually, and they took me to the California missions when in school. And I was absolutely captivated. And then I really studied California history in high school and college. But then it's when I got to a point when I could travel on my own, when I graduated college, I was off and running. And so whenever I could have a few weeks, you know, vacation from wherever I was working, I would travel around the Caribbean and other places I took my first international trip when I was in my late 20s. And as I was doing this, I was also taking my camera. And by the way, while I'm also doing that, I'm reading historic novels, mysteries and history books, all about history, because I just love to immerse myself in history and feel like what it was like to be there. So all of this was kind of coming together. And so for the last more years than I count, I've been traveling all over the world i've hit 500 locations and i've been capturing them on photographs and the historic traveler is the outcome from that where i have basically taken and married all of that together so we do articles where we give you a little shot a little um What's I'm trying to say? A
SPEAKER_03:little sampler, a little taste.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. A little summary. Thank you very much. A little summary of a location, its history, the items to see in that city, the historic items that are worth reviewing when you're in the town. And then I give you my beautiful photos from all over the world. And lastly, what makes us really different is that we'll give you the books to read. Nice. I think, you know, are we
SPEAKER_03:outliers though? Like, do you think more and more people are into the history of places when they go now?
SPEAKER_01:I do. I do. And I think we've really struck a chord. It's an audience of people who are basically just love history. And so we're making it possible to experience history in place, not just through a book. I think it was Stars or Showtime, the Serpent Queen about Catherine de' Medici. And at Chateau de Chenonceau, I was standing in her bedroom. And this is the woman who literally threw out her husband's mistress out of this beautiful chateau and took it over. And I'm going, well, this was what? Catherine de' Medici looked at every single morning when she woke up. That's what makes you feel really cool.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think everybody has an experience like that. I can remember standing in Washington, D.C., where the spot where Martin Luther King did his I Have a Dream speech. And you can just look out and see that happening, right? And same with the book depository in Dallas where Kennedy was assassinated. Yeah, it just recreates everything in your mind. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:And it's so enriching when you have an opportunity to experience it and experience a culture in a place that came from that history and the people who live there and they're the descendants of the people who went through that history.
SPEAKER_03:I was looking on your website again. It's thehistorictraveler.com. There is a lot there. What's the best way to use it? Like if I'm just looking maybe for a good read to go on your 100 book list or top 25 book list, which I'm assuming is probably updated regularly. And is that a good place to start? What's the best way to use it?
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's a great place to start. But those are my 100 favorite historic novels. And the Hot 25, what's selling right now? But we also have the world's largest directory of historic novels, mysteries, and history books by locality. So you can go and you can pick a city, or you can pick a state, or you can pick a country, and we will give you all of the books in that. There's 8,000 books in that directory. So here are some of the features of the Historic Traveler. And one of the things I want to tell It is a membership program, but it's totally free. There is no cost to join. So what you get is an 80-page magazine. The magazine is divided into destinations and media. Media is TV, films, and books. And each one half of that, they have a Q&A. So one is an expert. It might be the man who saved the live houses in America. The next part of it is a top international historic novelists. So I'm really pleased to say that Tony Rich's top Elizabethan and Tudor author and Fiona Davis, whose books are all based in New York City landmarks, are both featured in the magazines. And so we'll have top bestselling authors there as well. So you get the a whole series of directories, like the book directory I was telling you about, the world's first directory of TV historic dramas and where you can see them, all going all the way back to roots and current stuff. Then we'll give you a directory of the top 200 films, historically oriented films by era. We'll also give you a directory of historic hotels all across the world. We're building one that gives you historic museums.
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:On top of that, we have a travel agent that will book you at no cost. They'll help you book your trips. If you're a member, you can take advantage of that. Lastly, we have a community. So we meet once a month for a book club. We meet for our monthly conclave where we get together and talk about the opportunities and the people, travel agents that you know, or I might have a guest. It's just all about historic travel and the opportunity Mm-hmm. The fabulous pictures that you can, you know, you can put on your screen saver, you can put on your wall, you can put them in an album or you just look at them. They're beautiful. So all of that is just adds up to a great resource. And, you know, if you're looking for going to someplace, you can sort by posts and see what I've written about the various different places in the country. Nice. So there's great resources all across. We also have special, you know, we have arrangements with different travel providers on the site. And somewhere probably toward the middle of next year, I'm also going to be taking people on tours. And so you want to be on board when I do that. And I offer those. Now, we also have a newsletter. And that newsletter comes out every other week. And in it, we'll keep you up on the posts you might have missed. We'll announce the new magazines out. We give you book reviews. We have book reviews all over in the magazine, on the newsletter, on the website. We will also, to keep you up on what the newest books are, we'll also in there put what's going on news-wise on across the world about history. If there's an archaeological dig that you're invited to join or a manuscript that's been unearthed, we kind of keep you informed of all that cool stuff. And then we'll introduce you to new authors and just really dynamic kinds of ongoing activities and travel opportunities that are going to be coming up. So, you know, I encourage people to come on over. You know, you'll be starting to see companies that are sponsors that are going to be bringing special deals to you. So we just love welcoming people who love to either time travel through a book or real travel to these historic locations.
SPEAKER_03:Or both. So what are some of the hot destinations right now that you're finding out there or some of the interests that people are looking at?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I think that you're looking at places that are not the top top because, you know, you can always go to your Barcelonas and your Paris and all that. But there are some wonderful smaller towns like, and I'm just going to name some of them, Bruges in Belgium is always one of my favorite. It's a little mini Amsterdam with swans in the canals. But then there's Siena in Italy that I love and Verona in Italy. Those are wonderful. I mean, I can't, Florence is the top, but I mean, these are wonderful smaller towns and Genoa. I love Genoa too. It's on the ocean and you can actually see the city gates that Christopher Columbus looked out on from his home. And then there are places in Croatia. For example, Dubrovnik is wonderful. It's where they filmed a lot of Game of Thrones and an island there called Korčula that is fantastic. You go to the Czech Republic. There's this wonderful little place that's like a fantasy walk, fairytale walking into Český Kromlov, which is about four hours west of Prague. You know, those are just sort of, in France, some of my favorites, again, are places like Anansi in the Alps. Or Albi or Avignon, where there were two popes actually at one point. So these are places that are not your big places, but they are filled with history and you will experience being transported in all of them.
SPEAKER_03:Do you have a favorite time period? Personally, I'm a Civil War history buff or a war history buff in general, but it's mostly in the last maybe 200 years. Do you have a favorite time period that you enjoy?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I love medieval and Renaissance periods in Europe. That really sings to me. I think I probably had a past life in one of them. But that's always really what resonated. But for me, history is wherever it is. So while I have my sort of the place that I have a special affinity for, I still want to see everything. So next on my list is Egypt. I've done, you know, a good bit of Asia. I've been to Australia. I've been to Africa. But I really want to see Egypt and the southern Mediterranean. I want to go to Morocco. And I want to go to Malta. I mean, there's other places that I just haven't been. And I'd like to do more Greece. So, you You know, history beckons wherever you are.
SPEAKER_03:Well, it does. And again, we go back to what we were saying at the beginning. It's hard not to merge travel and history because it doesn't matter where you go. There's a history behind it.
SPEAKER_01:It'll make you feel as if you live there. And you can get that by going to thehistorictraveler.com forward slash guide. But I also have one for North America. And that is 18 cities. And you can get that one by going to thehistorictraveler.com forward slash guide N-A as in North America. And so either place you're going to be going, you have an opportunity for enrichment and experience history wherever it's created.
SPEAKER_03:Well, it's amazing. Like I said, on your website, thehistorictraveler.com, there's lots and lots of information. I'm looking through your book list to try and find my next read because I'm just finishing up on the Civil War right now. And I'm going to branch out into medieval and some other historic periods too.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And, and, well, Rutherford kind of bridges both of those time
SPEAKER_02:periods.
SPEAKER_01:And, and also, you know, Philippa Gregory does a great job with her tutor series and some of her other ones, Tidelands. So it's great stuff.
SPEAKER_03:Lots of books to choose from. And like he's talking about your free guides that you can sign up for. Just become a member. It doesn't cost anything. And then you can stay up to date on all the latest things, right?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. I really encourage people to do that. You're not going to be hit up with any fees or anything like that. Just enjoy what we have. And we just want to make it available to you. And then you'll stay up on the newsletter and find out all the cool new stuff. And you can join us for our meetings if you are still moved.
SPEAKER_03:My favorite four-letter word, free.
UNKNOWN:Exactly.
SPEAKER_03:People can check out your website, thehistorictraveler.com. They can... Get the free guide at thehistorictraveler.com slash guide. If you want the North American guide, it's slash guide.na. Lots and lots of options. Jackie Lappin is a journalist, author, and the founder of The Historic Traveler. Again, the website, thehistorictraveler.com. I'm going to go back to your website and find a book.
SPEAKER_01:Terrific. All right, Randy. Thank you so very much. It was delightful to be here. And if anybody wants to reach out to me, please do. I'm always available to connect with people.
SPEAKER_03:And that is our show for this week. If you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email is randy at theinformedtraveller.org. And if you like what you heard, tell a friend. You can check out our website too at theinformedtraveller.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveller.