Masked Man Nabbed on Flight to BC from Hong Kong

[NuclearFart]

Was there an arrest warrant for him or does China not allow it's citizens to travel outside of the country? Otherwise it's bizzare he needed the mask to get out of the country.

That mask is totally creepy by the way, wonder if it was attached to his lips so he could talk normally.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

Wouldn't he still have to go through the Canada Border Services Agency officers at the Vancouver airport? I have the feeling they might not allow him into the country with just an aeroplan card.

It was a joke about a chinese man in Richmond; I was ignoring the technicalities of the situation.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Mad Mel

It's the flight attendants checking ID as the passengers board at the gate.

Not on Air Canada. The gate agents and the Flight Attendants are different people. The FAs are already on board before the passengers board. In my experience, the gate agents are usually locals employed by AC.

I believe that WestJet has its FAs act as gate agents, but AC doesn't because of its union contracts. That was a major point of contention when AC launched their Zip brand to compete directly with WestJet.



There was some more information about this on Global last night, Air Canada says that the Flight Attendants thought that there was something suspicious about the old man after he boarded and asked the airport security people to recheck him and were told he was fine. They also say he had a US Passport and not just an Aeroplan card as previously reported.

Reports say that the man speaks no English, is a Chinese national, and was likely aided in his efforts by human smugglers in China (all of which I'm sure everyone already assumed).

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/ca...415/story.html


In the reports I've read, they all say he "swapped" his boarding pass with a 55 year-old US citizen. So, the obvious question is where is this American? Was he on the flight, and if he was, how did he get on board with the other guy's boarding pass?

Also, since he speaks no English, and the mask doesn't appear to be very conducive to speaking anyway, how did he communicate with the people at the airport? Did he have something written down explaining that he's mute (and deaf, and maybe even blind) or something?

[Mad Mel]

Originally Posted by getbak

Not on Air Canada. The gate agents and the Flight Attendants are different people. The FAs are already on board before the passengers board. In my experience, the gate agents are usually locals employed by AC.

Is that the case overseas though? What airlines do domestically and internationally can be different (I mean domestic / international in terms of where the gate is located, not the flight type). I have a hard time believing that Air Canada employs gate agents for their one flight a day from Sydney, as an example. I should know, I've flown internationally with them enough times, but I can't remember.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by Mad Mel

Is that the case overseas though? What airlines do domestically and internationally can be different (I mean domestic / international in terms of where the gate is located, not the flight type). I have a hard time believing that Air Canada employs gate agents for their one flight a day from Sydney, as an example. I should know, I've flown internationally with them enough times, but I can't remember.

They use employees of other Airlines in the Star Alliance.

In Hong Kong, whenever I've flown with Air Canada, the gate agents, the agents at the check-in counters were almost all wearing United Airline tags. It makes more sense since UA most likely has more flights than AC going into HK everyday. I very seldom see Air Canada name tags until I get on the flight.

[getbak]

NM, STeeLy gave a better answer.