We have welcomed 227 new subscribers in 2019.

We wish to thank everyone for your support of our efforts.

We always welcome feedback from our subscribers who wish to share their memories and photographs.

Particularly if you have stories to share from one of the legacy airlines: Canadian Airlines, CP Air, Pacific Western, Eastern Provincial, Wardair, Nordair and many more.

Please feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

AFC World Series.

El Gouna, Egypt -  March 26 - 29, 2020.

This tournament is open to all amateur football teams related to the aviation business (Airlines, Airports, Air Traffic Controllers, Handling, Cargo, Travel Agencies and so on).

All players must be aviation employees (or former employees), however each team is allowed to bring up to 2 players outside aviation (but non-professional football players).

Source: afcseries.wixsite.com/aviationcup/tournaments) 

In NetLetter # 1427, Gretchen (Aird) Dawson, founder and past president of the Canadian Maple Wings Association (CMWA) sent us information on the cookbooks illustrations by M. Donahue.

Here we have three more of the cartoons which each precede a few of the cookbook sections -

Agnes Jackson passes along this personal memory of the snowstorm described in NetLetter #1420

Earlier this year, you printed a snowfall certificate from Del Horn. This brought back several memories as we too were living in the Montreal area at the time; Pointe Claire to be exact. As a matter of fact, we were living on the same street as the Horns. Both Del and my husband, Ian were at home as no-one could get to the airport, nor could those already there get home.

Anyway, we got a phone call from the Horns asking us if we would like to come over for a visit and a warm drink. We jumped at the chance, as not only were our children playmates, but they had a fireplace and we didn’t!

We buttoned up and then found that the snow was piled so high against our door that we could not get out, so all five of us had to climb out of a window. Next problem—how to get down to the end of the block. I was afraid that one of the kids might just fall through the high snow and we would have to dig him out before he suffocated, so I made all three lie down and do the breaststroke over the snow.

I did not think I would have a similar problem even though I weighed three times as much as each of them, so I started on my way, only to go right through the soft snow and end up in our neighbour’s empty garbage can which had been left at the end of their driveway. Fortunately, Ian eventually managed to pull me out.

We finally made it to the Horn’s door only to find it also could not be opened due to the amount of packed snow against it. After much pulling and tugging, they managed to make enough space to push out a small shovel to clear the door and let us all in.

We all had a great time, listening to steel band music, having a few rum punches and playing some games by the fire.

Great time, great friends, great memories. Do hope they don’t set any new snow records this year.

Michael Stambois sent in the image below:

Four ex-Nordair employees at the 2019 annual Pionairs Christmas dinner held at the Comox Golf Club.  A great night of reminiscing.

From left to right: Paul Peron, Customer Services; Mike Stambois, Engineer; Danny Bereza, Pilot and Mike Fox, Engineer.

Shirlee Schacter sends us this report and photos -

The 19th Annual Friends of Front St. (FoFS) Reunion was held on Saturday, October 19, 2019, in Toronto at Hooter's on the Airport Strip.

Always fun to get together to rekindle old times with former colleagues.

This group is comprised of former Air Canada Computer & Systems Services (C&SS) employees who are on Shirlee Schacter's master contact list and who are kept updated on an ongoing basis.

If you were part of C&SS or if you worked closely with that Department "back in the day" and would like to be part of the list, please let Shirlee know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

New additions are always welcome.

Air Canada Takes Delivery Of Its First Airbus A220.

We're excited to report that we took delivery of our first of 45 Airbus A220-300 aircraft C-GROV (fin # 101) during a December 20, 2019 informal transfer ceremony at the Airbus A220 Program facilities in Mirabel, Québec.

We're the first airline to operate the A220-300 in North America and our first revenue flight is scheduled for January 16, 2020, one day after we unveil the aircraft to employees, the public and media at our HQ in Montréal.

(Source: AC Daily December 20. 2019)

More info available at SimplyFlying.com

Click the image below for a YouTube video posted by Airbus depicting the assembly of the aircraft.

Air Canada relaunched its Award-Winning enRoute In-flight Magazine beginning with the July 2019 edition.

(Source: aircanada.mediaroom.com)

Between July 2 and August 28, 2020 Air Canada will operate three additional flights per week from Montreal and four additional flights from Toronto to Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport.

(Source: aircanada.mediaroom.com)

Air Canada has  been recognized as the 2019 Airline of the Year by Global Traveler, a leading magazine for luxury business and leisure travellers.

(Source: aircanada.mediaroom.com)

Here is the cover of the enRoute magazine issued December 2012.

A look at the Lone Star landscape, including Philip Johnson's Fort Worth Water Gardens.

Shot by JUCO in Fort Worth, Texas.

(Source: issuu.com/spafax/docs/enroute_december_2012)

Continuing the Time Travel: 75 Years in Events. Started in NetLetter #1419.

1953 - Sharp new employee uniforms.

In May 1953, a standard new blue uniform for all groups in the company makes a system-wide appearance.

For flight operations, this is the first major uniform change since 1937. The basic uniform is an off-blue shade; in summer, flight attendants switch to a sky-blue shade. Shirts, blouses, hats and ties and company insignia have been altered or redesigned, and both flight and ground personnel wear ID brevets.

(Source: moments.aircanada.com/timeline)

An early Trans-Canada Air Lines historical event in 1946.

Improved Atlantic service.

Trans Atlantic flights made by Trans-Canada Air Lines have now been increased to four per week. Lancastrians leave Prestwick on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for Montreal  and on a normal flight there is accommodation for ten passengers and 3,500 pounds of mail, express and baggage.

Half fares are now available for children between two and twelve years old accompanied by a passenger aged twelve or over.

(Source: www.flightglobal.com)

Please note: This article is posted in the Flight Global Archives. Registration on their site is required to view.

Issue dated July 1988.

Heathrow pioneers new storage system.

In May 1998, Air Canada's supply and stores division of the Facilities & Supply Branch in London, England, pioneered an automated system for storing small and medium size aircraft and ground equipment spares.

Here 'Storeman' Bert Hutton operating the Kardex Industriever storage unit.

In 1988, with the introduction of B-767 fin #613 a new colour scheme was introduced.

That summer Canadians and people around the world noticed a subtle change in the public face of Air Canada.

An Air Canada image which still looked reassuringly familiar, but which had that extra touch of class and freshness which is part of a dynamic, professional, forward looking, world-class airline.

For the first time ever, Air Canada had a completely coordinated look - from uniforms to aircraft interiors and exteriors.

Regarding the 'Maple Leaf' emblem, the design remains unchanged, as the public likes it and the 'Roundel' on tail of aircraft was larger.

These are some of the designs suggested for the aircraft tail but were discarded.

Our name on the signature was modernized with use of new lettering and use of upper and lower case letters ('Air Canada' versus 'AIR CANADA').

A new burgundy stripe was added under red stripe on all aircraft and ground equipment (to tie in with burgundy inside aircraft and other facilities).

Seventy of our Toronto Airport employees joined forces against a Worldways team for the annual aircraft pull competition during Canada's Fitweek.

Air Canada won the challenge by towing an empty stretch DC-8 weighing approximately 150,000 lbs, an impressive 1,280 feet. Worldways only managed a mere 500 feet.  Congratulations to the Toronto team and a tip of the hat to organizers Jean-Yves Neault and Sylvie Atterbury.

Issue August 1988.

Our Prestwick and Glasgow staff gathered for a group photo with the President, Pierre Jeanniot, during his visit in 1988. 

(No names were provided – eds).

Who's who on the ramp at Toronto (YYZ)

There are a lot of new faces appearing on the ramp in Toronto and we would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Station Attendants.

'Who'  are back row, from left to right: Len Daigle, Scott Bankley, Bill Blyth, Larry Fleury, Nick Vander Doelen, Dave Noseworthy, Geordie Bloomfield, Andrew Allan and Doug Lunn.

In the front row: Mike McLaughlin, Nevio Menegon and Jim Bédard.

CF-TDJ fin #357 was the first DC-3 for Trans-Canada Air Lines and delivered on September 22, 1945.

Story time: CF-TDJ began as US-AAC C-49-1 43-1985. Acquired by Canadair in 1945, it was converted as one of Trans-Canada Air Lines original DC-3's.

However, "TDJ" soon was re-sold to Goodyear Tire and Rubber of Toronto on October 4, 1948. Canadair then installed the deluxe interior. "TDJ” faithfully served Goodyear into 1984, when it was replaced by a Learjet.

Sometime later it was suggested to Captain Don Murray (who had flown “TDJ” from the day it joined Goodyear) that instead of dumping its beloved DC-3 for far less than it was worth, Goodyear could try donating it to Canada's National Aviation Museum (NAM) in Ottawa in exchange for a decent tax receipt.

Being a history-minded and penny-wise fellow, Don, listened, then jumped on the suggestion. A deal was arranged with the NAM at Rockcliffe.

On December 19, 1983, Bob Bradford (head of the NAM) and several guests, Larry Milberry and Ken Molson included, boarded "TDJ" for its nostalgic last flight. In perfect weather we cruised up to Rockcliffe, made a ceremonial flypast on arrival, landed, then watched as CF-TDJ was pushed into the main hangar. There it sits to this day just as you see it below. 

(Source: via Larry Milberry/CANAV Books)

Trans-Canada Air Lines received more than 20 Canadair DC-3 rebuilds.

Below, CF-TEG sits in its polished glory at Cartierville, ready for customer acceptance.

"TEG" was delivered on May 31, 1946 and assigned fin #380. It served TCA 1946-57, then was sold to Canada's Department of Transport on August 21, 1957, registered CF-GXW, where it served until 1985. In 1986 it flew around the world promoting Vancouver's Expo 86. In 1999 it was registered to Lance Toland Ltd, Wilmington, Delaware, USA as N173RD. (View at FlightAware.com)

(Source: via Larry Milberry/CANAV Books)

Found in the "Info Canadi>n" magazine.

Issue dated October 6, 1988 -
Approval for Toronto - Tokyo non-stop.

Canada reached an agreement with Japan on September 30, 1988 for new scheduled air services, permitting Canadian Airlines to begin its long-sought non-stop Toronto-Tokyo route. It will be a cooperative venture with Japan Air Lines.

Plans call for the airline to extend that service to points beyond Tokyo to destinations such as Hong Kong or Bangkok.  As Canada's preeminent carrier to the Orient, Canadian Airlines will utilize its expanded opportunities provided in the agreement to connect Canadian points with Nagoya in 1989, and with the completion of the Kansai International Airport will provide services to Osaka in 1993.

Canadian Airlines may also link Calgary and Edmonton with more direct services to Tokyo as early as 1989.

Left and below are a couple of advertising posters from the 1960's
for Canadian Pacific Airlines

(Source: departedflights.com)

CAE, Jazz Aviation and Seneca have teamed up to develop Jazz Approach, an innovative Canadian program to provide Jazz with a pipeline of top-quality first officers.

Cadets will receive a letter of employment from Jazz upon selection into the program, allowing for a direct path to join the airline as first officers conditional upon successful completion of the program.

The parties involved have signed a five-year partnership agreement and the first is set to begin training in April 2020.

(Source: www.cae.com/news-events)

Pilots and flight attendants of an Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER decided not to take any chances when a mysterious odour permeated the cabin as the twin engine jet climbed out of Vancouver.

Unexplained odours can be a symptom of electrical malfunctions or problems with the air-conditioning system, and the crew of the aircraft — which was carrying 245 passengers to Montreal — requested to level off at 25,000ft in order to troubleshoot the problem.

In a bulletin on the September 17, 2019 incident, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the crew had "no success" with efforts to clear the smell and, as a precaution, the pilots put on oxygen masks, transmitted an urgency call, and returned to Vancouver to land.

Inspectors soon traced the source of the problem. Not a technical snag but rather a shipment of durian fruit in the aircraft's forward cargo compartment, which was hastily offloaded. Given that US travel and food writer Richard Sterling has described the durian as exuding a long-range aroma akin to "turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock" — and that's just the family-friendly bit of the quote — it's not hard to understand why the Asian fruit caused so much consternation on the flight.

There's a reason the durian is banned on public transport in several Asian cities. Don't expect it to turn up on Air Canada’s in-flight menus any time soon.

(Source: Flight International Magazine October 22, 2019)
Link not available.

American Douglas Super DC - 3 –

Far away to the north, the remote island nation of Iceland is known for its volcanoes, glaciers, and geothermal springs. But on a black sand beach near Sölheimasandur on the south coast is a tourist attraction of another sort entirely. Sitting lonely upon the epic backdrop is this abandoned plane. 

This piece of hull is all that remains of one of the world's best known plane wrecks. The plane itself was not Icelandic but American, a Douglas Super DC-3 that crashed in 1973.

Thankfully, the crew survived the impact, but nobody thought to clean up the aftermath! As far as desolate surroundings go, it would be hard to find something more bleakly beautiful than this.

Click the image to view a video on YouTube.

 Boeing 727 Aft Airstairs

Our "Smileys" article in NetLetter #1427 triggered a memory for Bob Sheppard whose career was in Cabin Maintenance.

Bob writes:

I worked the 727 in YWG exclusively for 7 years. For C and D checks we used those airstairs a lot to move cabin seats in and of the aircraft. Just an awesome feature of the airplane.

With very limited space on an aircraft, moving large objects in and out around right angle turns was always a challenge. Getting the job done quickly was the difference between on time and a delay. You learned techniques by trial and error or from a colleague. For example removing a cockpit seat from a DC 9 was a daunting task. You had to remove the cushions, push the seat full down, put the back in full recline.

Once the cockpit / flight deck seat is so positioned, you turn it on its side so the top of the back is angled towards the main cabin door. Carefully slide it through the doorway and you just have enough room to pass through. Trust me, they will not fit through the sliding windows.

Just a quick story about the B-727 airstairs which I used many times for quick getaways when working at the back of the airplane close to departure.

I was working in Winnipeg helping out on removing the interior of the aircraft for overhaul. We started at the front and were progressing quite nicely when an urgent call rang out. Everyone to the front of the plane.

We then noticed the nose had lifted off the ground and gradually went back down when enough people found their way to the front end.

Turned out nobody had put the tail support in place and the only thing preventing the aircraft from toppling backwards was the airstairs.

My own memory of the B-727 utilization of the airstairs was delivering an "Over Water Conversion Kit" each weekend to an aircraft in the YYZ hangar.

As I recall, a row (or two) of seats at the rear of the aircraft had to be removed for the installation of an extra raft for a weekly flight to a Caribbean destination. We would drop off the kit each Saturday overnight and pick it up again the next night. The Cabin Maintenance people were not very pleased about doing this task but, at least, the aft airstairs did make the job a little easier.

Does anyone remember having performed this task? Anything to add? 

Terry Baker, co-founder of the NetLetter scours the internet for aviation related Trivia and Travel Tips for you, our readers, to peruse.

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A memory from Terry Baker -

I worked with Air Canada at Dorval in the computer building overlooking the Bombardier factory to the east.

In the 1980's, Bombardier were doing a demonstration with the CL-215 water bomber. Flying to the east, very low over the runway, it dropped its water load in front of the assembled gathering standing on the roof of the Bombardier building.

At the end of the runway, the aircraft banked to the left. I said to my supervisor, Andy McCready, who was also following the trial demonstration, "That guy is too low and going to crash!" Behold it did just that when the left wing struck the ground and the aircraft settled down. In minutes, two people exited the aircraft and ran away from the immediate scene to safety.

Within minutes, the fire and safety equipment went hurtling down the runway until they suddenly halted far from the accident site. The reason - route 13 was a depressed highway (sic) built at the end of the runways.

There was no way to cross and get to the accident scene without returning to the base and re-routing themselves to the base road. There was no fire or fatalities - except, I would think, considerable embarrassment.

(Anyone recall this incident? – eds)