We have welcomed 145 new subscribers so far in 2022.

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

Back issues of The NetLetter are available in both the original newsletter format and downloadable PDF format.

We invite you to visit our website at www.thenetletter.net/netletters to view our archives.

Restoration and posting of archive issues is an ongoing project. We hope to post every issue back to the beginning in 1995.

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: Trans-Canada Air Lines, Canadian Airlines, CP Air, Pacific Western, Maritime Central Airways, Eastern Provincial, Wardair, Nordair, Transair, Air BC, Time Air, Quebecair, Calm Air, NWT Air, Air Alliance, Air Nova, Air Ontario, Air Georgian and all other Canadian based airlines that once graced the Canadian skies.

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

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

Thanks!

Farnborough International Airshow will make its return on July 18 - 22, 2022.

A huge amount will have changed in the three years since we last brought industry together; however, FIA2022 will be a strategic opportunity to witness the leaps in development that have taken place as well as showcasing innovation to a truly global audience, face-to-face.

More info at www.farnboroughairshow.com

Saturday, August 13, 2022 at 4 p.m.

Brasserie le Manoir

600 St-Jean Blvd, Pointe-Claire, QC, Canada

Group Members of Air Canada C&SS

What To Expect:

Debbie and Gemma will be in Montreal, so we're getting together again!

Please let me know if you plan on staying for dinner, so I can book ahead! Hope you can make it!

For further info & details contact Dave Harwood at:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

James Fraser sent us this information and photos -

I just read the article in NetLetter #1487 (Submitted Photos) and would like to add more info on the DC-3.

Trans-Canada Air Lines purchased its first DC-3 in 1945; thirty operated between 1945 and 1963. Canadian Pacific Air Lines operated 17 until the late '50's. The DC-3 could fly at 165 mph, and had a range of 1,500 miles. Typical passenger capacity was between 21 and 28.

I worked at YXSAP (Prince George, B.C.) in 1969 and was there for the last of an era- DC-3 's.... CP had 3 based in YXS until April '69 and had 2 main routes....YXS to YYD (Prince George to Smithers, B.C.) and YXS-YQZ-YWL-YKA (Prince George - Quesnel - Williams Lake - Kamloops, B.C.).

All the airport staff held a Propout Party in the rec hall to celebrate...and the pilots did a great fly-past enroute to oblivion....

This date also marked the arrival of CP Air and the B737....... orange is beautiful !!!!

I have attached a couple of photos taken at Prince George Airport.

Left: Canadian Pacific DC-3 on approach - 1969.

Below: Canadian Pacific DC-3 and B-737 on the tarmac.

Regards Jim Fraser,  PEI

Dave Shore sends us this memory -

Regarding NetLetter #1487 (Submitted Photos) CP had DC-3's until 1974 when the last one was sold to Harrison Airways.

I’m not sure of the date of the last passenger service with them but when I started in 1967 there was a DC-3 flight operating Kamloops  - Williams Lake - Quesnel - Prince George and another flight between Prince George and Smithers. The last aircraft was in CP Air colours.

Dave Shore, Richmond B.C.

Richard Begin sent us this memory after reading the NetLetter #1487 (Remember When)  -

Can’t agree more with Monika’s story. I so enjoyed and laughed out loud while reading about the loss and washing of meat coming out of the oven on takeoff. A very similar situation happened to me on a Miami to Toronto flight.

On takeoff, 20 filets came out and landed on the floor. With a full load, there were not too many options so I washed them off, borrowed some veggies from first class and reconstructed the meal.

No one was the wiser. I mixed them up in the serving trollies so that my colleagues didn’t known if the tray they were serving had the washed meals.

And yes, those were the days that passengers had class and knew which utensil to use.

Richard Begin.

Margaret Bonham has sent us this photo -

This photo was taken in 1987 at Edmonton Airport I am on the left, Margaret Bonham, the lady to my right was, I believe, one of the first stewardesses for TCA.

I do not recall the name of the pilots, but they were assigned to flying the aircraft across Canada as part of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations.

Please see additional information with regards to the Junkers aircraft story in NetLetter #1487. I just thought I would let you know of some more detailed information about this aircraft.

The Junkers JU-52

This aircraft had only one engine, compared to the majority built with three engines. In Germany, most Junkers 52 aircraft were built with three engines – one on each wing and one in the nose.

A few experimental aircraft were built with one engine in the nose of the aircraft. However, most of these aircraft on the production line with one engine were eventually completed with three engines. 

My favourite model

Tales from the ACFF web site. 

Alex’s Story

One of my amusing memories of the airport was the nights 'MJ' and I handled the Canada 3000 flight – Toronto-Belfast-Lamezia.

Travel agents sold the flight to passengers without advising them that it made 2 stops (Northern Ireland and Italy).

When we announced boarding in English and Italian the response was predictable; a stream of confused Italian passengers approached the counter wondering where this “Belifaste” place was and passengers heading to Belfast were equally bewildered with “Lamezia”.

What started out – with confused looks and “Where the (bleep)” – ended with smiles and laughter as everyone finally understood what the flight routing was. When the boarding began we usually called out the sequence numbers in Italian and Belfast bound passengers sometimes asked if this was a special security code.

To write about it might not seem so funny, but to be there as we dispatched that flight was quite a different story as passengers performed like the cast of a Fellini film….Alex

Announcements June 20, 2022

• Only non-stop North America-Thailand route. Service to operate four-times weekly beginning December 1.
• Daily Toronto-Mumbai flights via London Heathrow beginning October 29.
• Restoration of key routes to India, Australia, New Zealand and Peru.

Air Canada announced today the expansion of its international network with the addition of Bangkok, Thailand, the carrier's first non-stop service to South-East Asia.

The airline will also be resuming flights to Mumbai, its second destination in the strategic India market. Air Canada's seasonal service to Bangkok will operate from its trans-Pacific hub at Vancouver International Airport, while the carrier's Mumbai flights will operate from Toronto via London-Heathrow. Both routes are subject to receiving final government approvals.

Found in 'Horizons' magazine

Issue dated November 2002

The many faces of Marketing.

1 - Chantal Pépin, 2 - Lucie Tiel, 3 - Lina Pomponio, 4 - Claire Bouchard-Nestor, 5 - Kristi Lowe, 6 - Laurie Lincoln, 7 - Marie-Claude Desgagnés, 8 - Doreen Riley, 9 - Louise Lass, 10 - Eric Lauzon, 11 - Anna Kobajlo, 12 - Charles McKee, 13 - David Bloomstone, 14 - Brian Masters, 15 - Lynn Haroon, 16 - Karla Schoenfeld, 17 - Denis Vandal, 18 - Gabriella Lechner, 19 - Marie-France Roy, 20 - Hugette Parent, 21 - Carmine Maurizio, 22 - David Anderson, 23 - Ian Sutherland, 24 - Hana Ryska, 25 - Nivine Morcos, 26 - Kathy De Laurentis, 27 - Pierre Bourbonnière, 28 - Steve Grovesteen.

Missing from the photo: 

Lysanne Rich-Hamelin, Richard Kaercher, Josée Leduc and Philippe Pouliot.

Issue dated April 2003

The Boeing Stearman

One of most widely recognized biplanes in North America, the Stearman served as the basic trainer for U.S. pilots during the Second World War.

In 1936, Stearman delivered the first model PT13's to the U.S. Army Air Corps. More than 8,500 Stearmans were eventually produced. During the war almost all American pilots undertook basic training on the PT13 or PT17.

After the war, some 2,000 were converted for agricultural spraying. Today, hundreds are in private hands. The Stearman was flown by Canadian Airways and Trans-Canada Air Lines. Typical flying speed was 150 km/h to 170 km/h.

Issue dated July 2003

'Unserviceable' parts salvaged; saves millions.

By Rick Sloboda, Communications Specialist, Technical Services.

A team in Technical Services has found diamonds among the dross by finding a way to repair damaged aircraft parts that even the manufacturers had given up on.

The determined group of employees from Engineering Support and Component Maintenance has gone on to save Air Canada Technical services around $4 million in just one year by coming up with creative solutions to repair damaged units, instead of purchasing expensive new parts.

The story started about a year ago, after a survey found over $3.5 million in unserviceable parts.

"These had been declared scrap because there was no repair for them written up in the manuals," said Project Leader Raymond Latande. "We estimated that developing in-house repairs could potentially salvage half the parts."

"Each team member brings a damaged part to weekly meetings, and the team brainstorms to find the best solution," Raymond explained. "The Team Leader assigns action items to each member to finalize the repair and the justifications for it, and their findings are presented to the group the following week."

Most repairs are then approved within Air Canada Technical Services by a Designated Engineer, acting for Transport Canada.

In this photo, holding $100,000 worth of scrap parts are, left to right: Salvatore Russo, Jérôme Légaré, Ray Rouleau, Richard Krauss, Ernest Bernardi, Michel Zamuner, Jean-François Richard, Calvin Vanden Bos, Aleksandra Jankovic, Steve Marandola and Raimo Kivinen.

Issue dated September 2003

PMO: A guiding light in project management

Successfully completing a project and delivering expected results takes time, effort and discipline, and it often requires special skills and resources.

One particular department within Air Canada brings professional project management expertise to manage and support critical corporate and branch projects. That's the Program Management Office, better known as the PMO.

This team photo has, front left to right: Kirsi Ulmonen, Sam Pellegrino, Sandra Boyle, Kara Gill, Nancy Rockbrune.

Back row,  left to right: Lucy Franco, Line Robinson, Carole Charbonneau, Denis Chalifoux, Vicki Benoit, Lise Lefaive, Pauline Nghiem, Claire Thermidor, Luc Desautels.

Videoconferencing (bottom left): are Lynda Zavitz (left) and Sandra Dick in Vancouver.

From Vis-a-Vis
An Air Canada Customer Sales & Service Employee Publication.

Issue dated June 1996

As we go into the new uniform, it's appropriate to publish this picture when our agents donned some vintage outfits to celebrate a piece of Air Canada history.

Gleanings from the on the pwareunion.com website.

Posted May 14, 2022.

From the desk of Deanna Wiebe, Chair of Aviation, Associate Professor and Flight Instructor: Bissett School of Business, Calgary, Alberta.

Mount Royal University Award.

Not sure if you're all aware of the PWA award at Mount Royal University Aviation so I'll share what I know.

There is a trophy with names of recipients going back to 1975. The P.W.A. Pilots' Aviation Foundation Scholarship will continue for many years to come, as funding for the student scholarship has been secured by the creation of the scholarship bursary endowments.

There is enough money for 3 or 4 students to receive the award every year, for approximately $4000 each. The amount varies a few hundred or so depending on the year and the state of the fund, but it's in that ballpark. This is a significant award for our students!

Posted April 15, 2022.

From the desk of Neil Burton -

The Company Logo and the Trumpeter Swan.

Did you realize Central BC Airways, then perhaps P.W.A., had a trumpeter swan emblem prior to the mustache?

In reading 'Wings over the West' by John Condit, page 168, when a streamlined emblem was being brought up, in the boardroom after Russ Baker’s death, Mrs. Russ (Madge) Baker was very upset about a new emblem.

Might these cap badges also have the Swan logo?  Would anyone have the trumpeter swan hat emblem that could be photographed and added to the P.W.A Reunion site?

From the "InfoCanadi>n" magazine.

Two B-737's fitted for Pope's one-day visit.

From 'Info Canadi>n' magazine issue dated September, 1987 and edited by the 'NetLetter' staff to give an insight to what is involved with a Pope's visit - one of which is due later this year.

A Canadian Airlines charter flight carried Pope John Paul II and his 80-person entourage from Edmonton to Fort Simpson, N.W.T. on Sunday, September 20, 1987, fulfilling a promise he made to northern native residents of Canada three years ago.

For his 1984 tour, Pacific Western Airlines had been contracted to provide a back-up aircraft for the Air Canada B-727 scheduled to carry the pontiff. When their jet experienced last minute mechanical problems, Pacific Western Airlines took over the charter. Poor weather conditions caused the flight to overfly Fort Simpson but the Pope promised the disappointed crowds that he would return.

This year, (1987) Canadian Airlines won the honour of providing both the primary and the back-up aircraft for the September papal visit.

Because the Pope's schedules are so precise and are usually within two or three minutes of plan, both B-737's were fully crewed, catered and ready for any eventuality. The back-up aircraft operated half an hour behind the primary aircraft. Four flight attendants were on the primary aircraft with a fifth assigned to the back-up jet. In addition a mechanic and three other company personnel accompanied the Pope's charter.

Preparations for this special flight had been underway for weeks, and the two B-737's to be used were divided into three cabin areas.

The Pope and a few of his closest advisors and technical staff occupied the first three or four rows of the aircraft, this forward cabin was separated from the rear cabin by a regular cabin divider.

The centre cabin was reserved for the 40-member Vatican entourage, with a curtain separating them from the rear cabin containing the media. Special fine china, silverware and crystal was rented for use in the forward cabin only, while the rest of the passengers enjoyed First Class catering.

Our first video comes from videographer, Alex Praglowski, as he pays tribute to the fleet of Fokker F-28's once operated under the Canadian Regional brand.

Several of these aircraft have been parked at Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport for the past 20 years. 

Our second video is a bit of departure as it is only slightly airline related. In 1978, storied con man, Frank Abagnale, was Johnny Carson's guest on the Tonight Show.

During this appearance, Mr. Abagnale explains (very humorously) how he was able to impersonate a Pan Am pilot and fly all over the world, always in the jump seat for free.

Newfoundland and Labrador Welcomes First Airlift of Ukrainian Refugees

Today at St. John’s International Airport the Honourable Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills, welcomed the first Ukrainian refugee airlift sponsored by any level of government in Canada to date.

The airlift that departed Katowice, Poland and landed in St. John’s is the culmination of the work of the Ukrainian Family Support Desk, a Provincial Government initiative launched on March 2, 2022, and on the ground in Poland since March 17, 2022, to provide safe haven to Ukrainians fleeing the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Refugees were carried on a Smartwings charter flight.

Smartwings, (formerly Travel Service) is a Czech low-cost leisure airline with its head office on the property of Václav Havel Airport Prague in Ruzyně, 6th district, Prague.

It is the biggest airline in the Czech Republic and it operates scheduled and chartered flights, mainly to leisure destinations, and also wet and dry leases its aircraft to other airlines. It also owns 98% of Czech Airlines, and has subsidiaries in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartwings

B-747 BBJ With 42 Hours Sent To The Desert

A virtually new Boeing 747-8, abandoned by the Saudi royal family 10 years ago, is now owned by Boeing and awaiting an unknown fate in Arizona.

According to the FAA registry, Boeing became the owner of the aircraft, which has 42 hours on it, the day before it was flown from Basel, Switzerland, to Pinal Air Park, a desert storage site near Tucson.

Once they arrive there, aircraft seldom leave intact, but Boeing hasn’t announced any plans for the plane. Speculation is that it will be parted out, which is the fate of most aircraft at Pinal. But the Saudis long ago abandoned the aircraft, simply because no one in the royal family wanted it.

The plane was ordered by Saudi crown prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for about $275 million and was being fitted with its executive interior in Basel when he died in 2011.

The aircraft was never finished and none of his relatives showed any interest in it. At one point it was up for sale for $95 million but there were no takers. It sat on the ramp in Basel for 10 years before taking what might have been its final flight on April 15, 2022. The aircraft currently has a temporary certificate of registration that expires May 14, 2022.

Source: avweb.com

Early May 2022, a KLM B-787 landed at Edmonton International Airport.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines president and CEO Pieter Elbers said this is the first flight of its kind for the company, setting a record for "using the largest amount of sustainable aviation fuel ever on a commercial flight. Using this different type of fuel our CO2 footprint is much lower."

The aircraft carried two per cent less fuel but had 76 more passengers than normal. The company said it equals about 26 per cent less C02 emissions per passenger.

The KLM flight was a long-haul entry for the Sustainable Flight Challenge by Skyteam. Sixteen airlines are taking part in the friendly competition and the goal is to take steps to create the most sustainable flight possible.

Source: globalnews.ca/news

Canadair North Star - revisited

As I have mentioned before, every story I write for The NetLetter always seems to lead to another. However, in this case, research led me back to one of my own stories.

My topic for our last issue, the Convair 580, initiated a conversation during our team Zoom meeting about the Canadair North Star. After the meeting, Terry and Ken sent me a few emails with details from their research and references on the topic. Great material for a new article but it did seem familiar.

I decided to to a quick Google search and found that I had already written the article in August 2016 for NetLetter #1349!

I encourage you to revisit that article as well as articles we published in NetLetters #1463 and #1464 for info on what happened to some of the North Star fleet after leaving Air Canada.

Terry has spent countless hours scanning issues of internal company publications going back over 60 years to preserve periods in history.

We invite you to click the icon to view excerpts from the April & May 1947 issues of 'Between Ourselves' featuring the introduction of the North Star.

Ken suggested viewing the videos linked below showing then Princess Elizabeth during her first visit to Canada in 1951.

The RCAF operated 24 unpressurized North Stars as military transports. Six of those aircraft were built with passenger interiors and temporarily operated by TCA while waiting for their pressurized North Stars. The opening photo in this issue and the photo above show one of those early aircraft.

The RCAF also acquired a single pressurized North Star for VIP use, designated C-5. It was the 71st and last North Star built. It was similar to the pressurized airline version built for TCA, CPA and BOAC, but was unique in using Pratt & Whitney engines from the Douglas DC-6, rather than the notoriously loud Rolls-Royce Merlin engines on all other North Stars. It was delivered in July 1950 and was retired in 1966 and later scrapped.

The two videos below show that one-off C-5, then only a year old, during a royal visit to Canada in November 1951 by then-Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, her first of many trips to Canada. She became Queen three months later on the death of her father, King George VI. The second video (right), from a National Film Board documentary on that royal visit, has better colour footage of the C-5 which they used on a brief sidetrip to Washington, DC, also her first visit to the USA. The President then was Harry Truman.

Interestingly, her flight to Kenya three months later, the first leg of a planned lengthy trip to several Commonwealth countries, and her unexpected return trip as Queen a few days later after her father's death, were on a BOAC Argonaut, the name used by BOAC for their 22 Canadair North Stars.

Editors' Note: Both videos begin at the point where the aircraft is visible.

Sources and links:

The Canadair North Star by Larry Milberry
Project North Star web site
Project North Star on YouTube
Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Wikipedia

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

Roger Shergold posted this recently on the CP Air Facebook page -

FYI everyone, I have just listed myself from YVR to LHR and back using the C1 pass. Please note that the UK departures taxes go up to $414.61 since you are now a J class passenger. Using a C2 pass the UK departure tax is $251.71.

Still exorbitant, but better. Might be worth considering not using C1 passes out of the UK.

Peter Foreman responded -

Good Grief!! UK dept. taxes have been punitive for years, but this is outrageous. Whatever does C2 or C1 have to do with airport costs? You always were a Top Agent looking out for the employees and you are still doing it. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Hope you have enough fun in the UK to soften the blow.

Roger Shergold answered -

Thanks Peter, kind words. A colleague of mine has suggested the best alternative is to route myself via DUB. And then use Z fares to travel to wherever I am going in the UK. Worth looking at. Ireland charges $15.40 as opposed to England who charges $390.00!

Continuation of the Air Canada nee Trans-Canada Air Lines History -  Started in NetLetter #1483.

(Source: Air Canada 75 years of innovation)

• 1963
  • Reservec, the world's first computerized reservation system, changes the ticketing game on January 24, 1963.
  • TCA becomes the world's first major airline with an all-turbine fleet when it retires its last propeller-driven aircraft, a DC-3, in 1963.
• 1964
  • Priceless cargo: Worth a lofty million dollars, the famous De Beers Collection of coloured diamonds lands in Montreal aboard a TCA DC-8 in 1964.
• 1965
  • Air Canada gets the royal seal of approval. On January 1, 1965, TCA is renamed Air Canada (first photo below), and the Queen flies from Ottawa to London aboard a DC-8 on October 13, 1964 to inaugurate the company's new bilingual moniker (photo above).
  • Staying toasty. Air Canada is the first airline to install covered passenger walkways linking terminals and aircraft in 1965.
  • The same year, the airline also helps make history by assisting Midas and Royston Instruments, an English electronics company, to develop the multichannel flight recorder, the world's first black box.
  • Queen Mother arrives in Toronto aboard a regularly scheduled flight from London, England June 23, 1965 (second photo below). Air Canada  President, G. R. McGregor, is shown as he was presented to Her Royal Highness. He later attended a dinner given in her honour by the Empire Club in Toronto. The Queen Mother visited Toronto in connection with the golden jubilee celebrations of the Toronto Scottish Regiment. She is Colonel-in-Chief. (Source: Between Ourselves dated July 1965)

(More in the next NetLetter - NetLetter editors) 

Our cartoon is by Carlin at Norfolk International Airport (ORF) and appeared in 'Between Ourselves' magazine issued May 1955.

The caption is "Well what are you waiting for? Start playing!"