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We always welcome feedback about Air Canada (including Jazz and Rouge) from our subscribers who wish to share current events, 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, Transair and many more (let us know if we have omitted your airline).

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We will try to post your comments in the next issue but, if not, we will publish it as soon as we can.

Thanks!

Keith Miller, WACA Administration Manager, sent us these photographs -

Members of the Headquarters Committee of the World Airlines Clubs Association receive their certificates of appreciation in Manila in 1984. 

Four Air Canada employees were among those so honoured. Pictured left to right:

Gary Parker, Human Resources, Montreal; Izzy Hnybida, Finance Winnipeg; Marie-France Musorrafiti, Human Resources, Montreal; Linda Hutsen, enRoute, Montreal. 

Looking on were Joe Ledwos, Manager WACA Headquarters (retired Publishing Supervisor, Air Canada); Gerry Philbrook, President of WACA, (Manager, Employee & Interline Travel Service, Air Canada); David Larkin, Secretary General and President - elect - WACA, (Buyer British Airways, London, England); Fransisco Valdez, of TAP - Air Portugal and a member of the Headquarters Committee being honoured.

Joe Ledwos, Manager WACA Headquarters (retired Publishing Supervisor, Air Canada); receives his certificate of appreciation for his services as Manager of the WACA Headquarters office in Montreal - 1984.

Pictured left to right:

Julio Seiz, Vice President Sports & International Events and Secretary General elect WACA (Facilities Programs Manager Air Canada, Montreal); David Larkin, Secretary General & President elect WACA (British Airways, London, England); Joe Ledwos and Gerry Philbrook, Retiring President of WACA, (Manager, Employee & Interline Travel Service, Air Canada, Montreal).

The year 2016, will be the 50th anniversary of WACA and the Council looked at the possibilities of organizing an Interline Celebration in Cannes to commemorate this occasion 50 years ago.

Robert Tabak, one of WACA's founders and ex-Swissair employee based in Brussels, Belgium, sent us these pictures of the meeting in France.

Pictures (top row):

The first WACA meeting in Cannes, France, 1966.
The first Belgium Interline Club Meeting in 1965 in Brussels.

Pictures (bottom row):

Cocktails at first WACA meeting, 1966.
Members of the Belgium Club to the first WACA meeting in Cannes posing at Nice-Cote D'Azur Airport next to a Sabena Caravelle.

Andrew Young sends us this information -

I used to work full time during the summer months of 1988 and 1989 for Air Canada commissary department at Prestwick airport. There were 6 full time employees and about 5 temps every year.

Permanent employees were:

Willie Kerr, Ian Hastings, Ina ?, Graeme Innes, Bill Jardine and Jim Morrison.

It was the best job I ever had! I was just wondering if you had any information about the history of the Air Canada Prestwick operation or indeed any of the above employees?

Thank you, best regards,

Andrew

(Editor's note: We directed Andrew to NetLetter #1429)

Jack Morath at Heathrow (LHR) sends the photo below -

Cricket Air Canada style!!

A motley crew but enjoyed by all, families included. Fun day at the Hodder Estates, May 2018.

The inaugural 'Rounce Farm Cup' cricket match. The seniors team against the young (and fitter) team - due to arthritis and a few other ailments, the younger team won - but there’s always next year!

My colleague Steve Hodder has sent this picture. We played a game of cricket in his field/garden. The names from left to right are as follows:

Brian Booth, Owen David, Jack Morath, Steve Hodder, Roy England, George Cover, Mike Belcher (and son) and Trevor Buckley.

All former Baggage Agents or Baggage Station Attendants.

I’m Norm Moore, a retired AC Pionair.

When I was a Passenger Service Supervisor at Ottawa (YOW) airport in the late 70’s & early 80’s, I recall an incident that closed almost all Canadian airports with the exception of Ottawa (YOW) and Calgary (YYC). If I recall correctly, it was due to a labour issue with firefighters servicing Canadian airports.

YOW & YYC were exempted as they were serviced by military firefighters. During this incident an AC employee took the attached photo of a B-747, DC-9, DC-8 and an L-1011 all on the YOW apron at the same time that a DC-8 had just become airborne. 

Best regards,
Norm Moore

Girl Power!

On August 5, 2015 in Montreal, a special day called "Celebrating Girls in Aviation" was devoted to celebrating, promoting and supporting women with careers in aviation.

Members of the Women of Air Canada Maintenance Committee organized the event for employees to bring in young ladies between the ages of 10 to 17 to spend the day listening and talking to women in our industry.

(Source: “Horizons” magazine issue September 2015, used with permission)

Amy Johnson - record setting pioneer

May 24, 2020 was the 90th anniversary of British pilot Amy Johnson becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.

She left Croydon Airport on May 5 and landed at Darwin, Northern Territory on May 24 in her de Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth, G-AAAH, named Jason.

Additional info:

www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/g-aaah/

Air Canada is seeing an improvement in demand for air travel and fewer cancellations; Chief Financial Officer Michael Rousseau said at an online conference hosted by Wolfe Research.

Rousseau said he expects domestic leisure and business travel to pick up in summer and in fall, respectively.

(Source: Reuters - May 19, 2020)

Air Canada Jetz aircraft to fly YYZ to YOW and YUL during June.

Throughout the month of June, these aircraft are being redeployed on routes to Montréal and Ottawa from Toronto during key morning and evening frequencies.

A total of 58 Premium Economy class seats will be made available for sale on each flight operated on one of these aircraft, giving customers the opportunity to experience first hand the aircraft used by celebrities and sports teams when travelling around North America. 

(Source: AC Daily May 22, 2020 )

Air Canada hits milestone of more than 1,200 cargo-only flights since March 22. We’ve been adapting our reduced operations to meet the global demand for air freight capacity.

Late Tuesday night on May 19, 2020, Air Canada reached a network milestone of more than 1,000 cargo-only flights, including cargo in cabin operations using our reconfigured Boeing 777's and Airbus A330's.

By May 27 the total had reached 1,200 flights.

(aircanada.mediaroom.com)

Avianca Holdings, one of Latin America‘s largest airlines, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York after failing to secure a government bailout before the deadline for a $66 million bond repayment due this month. 

(Source: Aviationweek.com, May 11, 2020)

Bangkok - The Thai government has approved the plan to bring flag-carrier Thai Airways to the central bankruptcy court, setting a “rehabilitation” plan into motion.

(Source: Kyodo News)

Star Alliance, founded in 1997, is the world's largest airline alliance with 26 member companies serving more than 1,000 airports in 195 countries around the world.  Member airlines include both international and regional airlines.

You can get virtually anywhere in the world on airlines in Star Alliance.

The 26 member airlines include Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines.

(Source: tripsavvy.com/stair-alliance-member-airlines)

Air Canada employees take pride in their work and it is important that they have the opportunity to share this pride with those who are most important to them.

For this reason, in 2013 Air Canada inaugurated Family Day celebrations at its major hubs.

These special days were set aside to allow employees to bring their families to decorated hangars where they could play games, tour an aircraft and enjoy popcorn, cotton candy and other free food and drinks, all in a carnival atmosphere.

The Family Day events in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal lived up to the expectations.

In total, the three Family Day events were attended by approximately 5,100 people and raised just over $16,000 for the Air Canada Foundation.

(Source:Citizens of the World 2013 edition)

Glasgow welcomes international flights.

Back in March 1990, a British government review of its Scottish Lowlands Airports policy led to an open skies policy for Scotland, with transatlantic flights no longer restricted to Prestwick Airport.

As a result, Air Canada decided to move its passenger operations to Glasgow Airport, which is more conveniently located to Scotland's largest city of Glasgow.

We commenced operations from Glasgow on May 16, 1990 with scheduled services to both Halifax and Toronto and twice weekly charter flights between Glasgow and Toronto.

However, not all connections with Prestwick were being severed. Our weekly freighter service continued to use Prestwick, which had excellent cargo facilities. In fact, Prestwick, which was preferred by many in the air freight industry was aiming to establish itself as a major cargo hub. Bob Flanagan, Cargo Sales and Service Manager, five Cargo Agents and one Cargo Service Coordinator remained in Prestwick to handle the freighter and other cargo contracts. 

Remaining at Prestwick to handle our cargo operation are (left to right):

Jim McCall, Cargo Service Coordinator; Angus Mackay, Cargo Agent; Ian Dawson, Lead Cargo Agent; Bob Flanagan, Cargo Sales and Service Manager and Cargo Agents Colin Kennedy, Wilson Wight and Tom Hay.

Our employees at Glasgow Airport include (left to right):

Tom Callaghan, Certificated Aircraft Technician in charge; David Auld, Station Agent; Sheena Ramsey, Customer Sales and Service Agent; Roddy McPhee,  Airport Services Manager;
William Kerr, Commissary Agent and Jim Kennedy, Certificated Aircraft Technician. 

Toronto paint division gives us a flawless image.

Since opening in April 1989, the Toronto paint division has been contributing to Customer Care in a very visible way.

The idea of a centralized painting facility for Air Canada's fleet had been on the drawing board for a number of years.

All painting had been done at Winnipeg or Dorval, while an aircraft was undergoing its C or D check. But as demand increased, the decision was made to establish a specialized paint facility.

Toronto was chosen, as more than half of our red tails pass through the hub at some point in their schedule. Danny Lortie and Frank Christofaro, both from Dorval were instrumental in setting up the operation and for training newly-hired staff.

The Paint Division's crew 1 includes (left to right):

Neil Martin, Paul Brennan, Eddie Ruttan, Gilles Cournoyer, Ted Eres, Gord Rendez, Barry Parsons and Michel Filion.

Members of crews 2 and 3 are, back row (left to right):

Rick Farrell, Mike Hibbs, Al Partridge, Ray Perkin, Danny Shea and Bob Wilson.

In the middle row are (same order):

Danny Lacuna, John McGill, Bob Watkins, Pierre Grandmaison, Garry Page, Peter Lerino, Chris Barnfield, Dieter Simon and Frank Christofaro.

Kneeling in front are: Ayoub Motala, Dennis Chislett and Terry Antonishka.

Prepare for WARR

On October 5, 1990 an anticipated 2,500 runners representing more than 60 worldwide airlines will compete for individual and team awards in Fort Worth, Texas at the ninth annual World Airline Road Race.

There will be 10-K and 5-K events and every runner counts in the scoring, with each carrier's handicap based on distance travelled and its number of participants.

American Airlines, the host carrier for this year's event has organized a variety of get-togethers including the famous T-shirt swap party and an awards dinner and dance at Billy Bob's - the world's largest honky-tonk bar.

A record number of close to 900 Pionairs gathered in San Francisco for their 13th Annual General Meeting.

The Pionairs executive for 1990 were:

President Leo Mclntyre, Immediate past President Mike Lewicki, First Vice president George Daman, Second Vice President Bob Blanchette, Treasurer Fraser Muir, Secretary Helen Gunton, Pension Representative George Clifford and Air Canada Liaison, D'Arcy Little.

The "Comms Centre" in the Queens Building at London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) closed its doors. while the new switchboard facility in Services Building 681 became operative.

The "Comms Centre" was not the only retirement that day. The same evening, a farewell party was held for a number of London airport employees.

The group of retirees. all smiles for our photographer included (left to right):

Dorothy DeLacy, Passenger Agent; Barbara Edwards, Sub Operator; Joan Sceeney, Teletypist; Mike Berry, Manager; Industrial Relations; Pam Tilley, Teletypist; Terry Scott, Flight Dispatcher; Daphne Parson, Edlie Ethcridge and Anne Bendall, Teletypists; Jeanette Brennan, Sub Operator; Ros Person, Teletypist; Betty Scott and John Baker, Flight Dispatch Manager.

Smiles from Dusseldorf

Meet our two Passenger Service Agents in Dusseldorf during 1990:

Sabine Rosellen (left) and Brigitte Hansel, who work in our downtown office and out at the airport on days when there's an Air Canada flight.

Members of the Air Canada Australian Commercial Team celebrate with a Queensland-style menu of tropical fruits, cheeses, Pavlova and exotic juices.

From left to right: Neil Ford, Sales Executive; Cynthia Lee-Bray, Personal Assistant to GM Australia and NZ; Zohreh Sanayei, Inside Sales Coordinator; Florence George, Finance Assistant; Fei Revel, Revenue and Sales Optimization Coordinator and David McNabb, Marketing Communications and Online Sales Manager.

A310's leased to Aussies.

PWA Corporation concluded an agreement covering the lease of A310-300 aircraft to Compass Airlines of Brisbane, Australia.

The aircraft left the fleet on June 18, 1991. Subject to confirmation expected later this month, a second A310 will be leased to Compass effective November 1991.

(Editor's note from Ken  Pickford: The lease of the second A310 never happened as Compass Airlines went bankrupt and was grounded by the Australian government in December 1991 when the first leased A310 was returned to Canadian Airlines. It's one of the 5 ex-Wardair/Canadian A310's that went to the Canadian Armed Forces in 1992/93 and remain in service.)

Canadian continued to market the remaining six A310 aircraft being operated in Canada.

PWA Corporation completed the following aircraft deliveries:

• May 28, one DC-10-30 to Potomac Capital Corporation.
• June 10, a DC-10-30 to Potomac Capital.
• May 31, International Lease Finance Corporation took delivery of a B747-400 it had acquired the rights to from Canadian Airlines last December 1990.

These deliveries were included in the fleet plan announced in late 1990. Cash proceeds from deliveries total $120 million.

During 1991, Canadian accepted delivery of one B747-400, two B767-300ER's, and five A320's bringing the total aircraft fleet to 85 aircraft with an average fleet age of nine years, one of the youngest in North America.

Prime Minister's North Pacific charter.

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's visit to Hong Kong and Japan on a chartered Canadian Airlines B-767 began with a historic achievement for this company. The flight was under the command of Captains Mac Jones and Terry Lambourne with first officer Don Garke.

It was the world's first commercial B767 non-stop flight across the North Pacific. The 6,592 statute mile Vancouver-Hong Kong trip on May 21, 1991 took 13 hours.

The 11-day trip was scheduled to fly Ottawa-Vancouver-Hong Kong-Tokyo-Osaka-Tokyo-Ottawa, carrying 50 passengers, including the Prime Minister and his wife Mila, his staff and media.

In recognition of exceptional operational and In-flight service, the Prime Minister extended to all the Canadian personnel accompanying the flight to attend the Official reception and opening of Place Canada Embassy in Tokyo.

Attending were business and government leaders of Japan and Canada, including Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Takamado, Prime Minister Kaifu of Japan and his wife and the Prime Minister and Mrs. Mulroney.

Also attending were our flight crew: 

Standing from the left: George Stonier, Doris Loo, Tony Wade-Cooper, Jo-Ann Chanin and William Lee.

Seated from left: Pat Clever, Magdl Erian, and Marie Larus.

Brandon Airport.

As aircraft fin #755 (Pacific Western's newest B-737 delivered only a few days earlier) touched down in Brandon on June 1, 1981, it marked the start of a new jet age for this community.

Many who had never been on board an aircraft, let alone a jet, were visibly impressed by the $15 million machine. Representatives from Airport Services, ln-Flight, Catering, Sales and Marketing were on hand throughout the day to answer the barrage of questions from an inquisitive public.

A special thanks to all those employees who contributed to the success of this day. It was estimated that 8 to 10 thousand people participated in the Brandon Air Service Day.

Larry Harris sends this -

Here's a question for your readers:

Do you remember the name of Pacific Western's first computer reservation system?

Neil Burton has sent us of a scan of “The Story of Queen Charlotte Airlines Limited”. 

He mentions that he does not recall how he came about the photocopies and from where.  QCA was purchased by P.W.A. in 1955.

Click the image to view the full document.

Airbus A310 retirement

Almost 38 years to the day after its first flight, the Airbus A310 took a big step towards oblivion as a passenger airliner on March 30, 2020 when Air Transat retired its final aircraft from service.

With the retirement over recent months of Air Transat's final four A310-300's, the total number of the wide body twin-jets in active passenger service has dwindled to just seven aircraft. According to Cirium fleets data, five with Mahan Air of Iran, and one each with Ariana Airlines and Yemenia.

Air Transat was the last major A310 operator, introducing the type in 2000 to replace its Lockheed TriStars.

Sourcing aircraft from the second-hand market, its fleet steadily increased to peak at 13-14 aircraft during 2008-2009.

With A321LR's joining the fleet to replace its A310s, the airline confirmed in 2019 plans to retire the type the following year. By late March, Air Transat had two A310's remaining and the type's last flight was operated on March 30, 2020 a repatriation flight from Portugal to Toronto, via Halifax.

(Source:flightglobal.com Note: Registration required to view archive)

Aerion Supersonic has picked Melbourne, Florida, as the site for its manufacturing plant and ancillary industries for the production of the AS2 supersonic business jet.

At a news conference in late April, the company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the $300 million Aerion Park will begin construction this year and be finished by 2026.

Manufacturing of the Mach 1.8 aircraft is slated to begin by 2023.

(Source: avweb.com May 4, 2020)

Boeing 767 - Last Flight of a Legend

The last flight of Air Canada’s Boeing 767 may not be a significant story considering current world events, but it should not be just a footnote in history.

Registration C-FTCA (Fin # 638) made the final passenger flight, Rapidair AC439 YUL-YYZ, on June 2 and then the lonely trip to Marana, Arizona (MZJ) on June 5.

Fin # 638 was originally delivered to Canadian Airlines in April 1989 and retired with 31.2 years of service. 

I am sure that our readers must have numerous B-767 stories to tell. Hopefully, some of them will be willing to share their stories with us.

For myself, I loved everything about these aircraft both as a passenger and my various positions in material supply.

My first ‘flight deck’ ride was from YYZ to YYC in August 1994. I was coming off working a night shift and was trying to get to YVR. The direct flight was jammed but the passenger agent said that I could get on the flight to Calgary at the next gate.

It was quite a shock when I entered the aircraft and the flight attendant opened the flight deck door and said, “there’s your seat”. I did not have time to adjust to that surprise when I glanced at the aircraft ID plate and saw ‘604’, the Gimli Glider. That woke me up! It was a nice smooth flight and the captain loved having someone to chat with. I had a great time.

As a stock keeper picking up AOG (Aircraft on Ground) parts for maintenance, the B-767 was the best aircraft to meet due to the bulk cargo compartment on the port side. I could park my truck well clear of most of the activity unloading the aircraft.

Near the end of my career, as a Material Logistics Coordinator and Expediter, the B-767 fleet was quite a challenge for identifying parts. Not only did we have the combined fleet of Air Canada and Canadian Airlines configurations to deal with, but several more aircraft were acquired from various lessors and had unique configurations.

(Editor's note from Ken Pickford: Canadian Airlines assigned registrations ending with "CA" when they took delivery of Fins 637 to 642 between 1989 and 1991.

I expect many people who saw that C-FTCA registration on an AC aircraft thought it had some connection to AC's original name, but in fact it was just a coincidence)

Ken also found a video of both C-FTCA (Fin 638) and C-GLCA (Fin 641) departing YYZ at 11:54 and 12:39 on June 5 (C-FTCA first) to Marana, Arizona.

C-GLCA is 2 years younger, age 29, delivered to CP May 4, 1991 (361st 767 built), vs. age 31 for C-FTCA, delivered April 25, 1989 (259th 767 built).

Video by Ernest Gutschik Aviation and posted here with thanks.

Planespotters.net - listing of all B-767's formerly operated by Air Canada / Canadian  Airlines.

Additional references:

Simple Flying

Flight Aware - C-FTCA - final flights

Vancouver videographer, eye trapper, has posted an excellent tribute to the B-767 below.

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

A scam to watch out for.

Reports have surfaced of cruisers being targeted by email with messages purporting to be from cruise lines. These emails ask travelers for credit card numbers, promising it's the best way to process refunds or Future Cruise Credits (FCC's).

Other cruisers have said they've been contacted by phone, "confirming" a refund and offering a follow-up email that will require bank account information.

Both methods are bogus, designed to prey on cruisers who are awaiting legitimate refunds or FCC's for cruises canceled because of the pandemic.

(Source: cruisecritic.com,  May 1, 2020

Answer for the mystery airline in Odds and Ends.

Air New Zealand symbol is a Mäori koru, representing a silver fern unfolding. Air New Zealand Limited is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand.

Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 32 international destinations in 20 countries, primarily around and within the Pacific Rim. The airline has been a member of the Star Alliance since 1999.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Early aircraft interiors - Early In-flight Entertainment 

Airplane passengers listen on headphones to the 1931 first test broadcast of a new service that allows them to hear boat races while watching the races from the air.

(Source: aviationweek.com, May 13, 2020)

Halifax Flying Club.

The J-3 succeeded the J-2 at Piper. Al spotted this fine-looking example at the old Hamilton airport early after WWII. The earliest info I could find for CF-DSI is that it was registered with the DOT on August 19, 1946. I'm guessing that it was built here early after WWII by Cub Aircraft of Canada. In 1955 it was owned by a John Morris of Hamilton.

From 1959 to about 1965 it was with the Halifax Flying Club, but thereafter is absent from the CCAR. Aviation fans of the day rarely could resist photographing such an inviting scene - a pretty little plane sitting well lit in the open and with an interesting background.

In those days Al still was an active private pilot, and certainly would really have enjoyed flying any such Piper. 

(Source: Larry Milberry from the collection of Al Martin @ www.canavbooks.wordpress.com)