Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter
Since 1995 Saturday December 13, 2025
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Happy Holidays from The NetLetter Team |
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Dear Welcome to The NetLetter, established in 1995 as a dedicated newsletter for Air Canada retirees.
We have evolved into the longest running aviation-based newsletter for Air Canada, TCA, CP Air, Canadian Airlines and all other Canadian-based airlines that once graced the skies. The NetLetter is self-funded and is always free to subscribers. It is operated by a group of volunteers and is not affiliated with any airline or associated organizations. The NetLetter is published on the second and fourth weekend of each month. If you are interested in Canadian aviation history, and vintage aviation photos, especially as it relates to Trans-Canada Air Lines, Air Canada, Canadian Airlines International and their constituent airlines, then we're sure you'll enjoy this newsletter. Please note: We do our best to identify and credit the original source of all content presented. However, should you recognize your material and are not credited; please advise us so that we can correct our oversight. Our website is located at www.thenetletter.net Please click the links below to visit our archives and for more info about The NetLetter. |
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 We have welcomed 145 new subscribers so far in 2025.
We currently have 4545 subscribers.
We wish to thank everyone for the continuing support of our efforts.
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 Back issues of The NetLetter are available in both the original newsletter format and downloadable PDF format.
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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: 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.
We will try to post your comments in the next issue but, if not, we will publish it as soon as we can.
Thanks!
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Our good friend John Rodger submitted the following:
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 The Governor General's Curling Club was founded by Lord Dufferin in 1874. He built a covered rink so that he and his staff could play the "roaring game" and established the Governor General's Trophy Competition. In 1910, the Vice Regal Curling Club was renamed the Governor General's Curling Club and several prominent curlers in the Ottawa area were invited to become members.
Since that time, the focus of the club has been to recognize those who have made a significant contribution to curling--locally, provincially and nationally-not only competitive curlers, but also as builders and administrators. One of its objectives is to promote the growth of curling in Canada and preserve its history.
The men and women of today's club come from all walks of life and are proud to be honoured by membership in this historic organization. In 1967, with the consent and encouragement of Governor General Roland Michener, the membership of the Governor General's Curling Club was increased to a maximum of 140 with representation from across Canada.
2025 Inductees where inducted in Fredericton, New Brunswick in September.
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 A high honour for one of our Pionair Members, Brian Ross (Lead on the 1977 Canadian Briar Champions and runner up at the AC Silver Broom in Sweden). Uniting passion, tradition and curling excellence.
Photo of Brian in front of Government House in Fredericton, New Brunswick (YFC), September 2025.
Inductees receive a red jacket as a token of recognition after induction into the Governor General's Curling Club.
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Ron Hebert asks:
Air Canada held a significant 50th anniversary celebration for its employees in 1987. For this milestone, large-scale staff recognition events and celebrations took place across the airline’s network.
I attended the one in Montreal, which took place on the Expo 67 site. Does anyone remember which pavilion it was held in?
Thank you, Ron
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Editors' Note: We scanned through Horizons issues from 1987 and found an article referring to the 50th anniversary celebration in the April issue.
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Old-timers ring in the next 50 years
Of the many and varied celebrations taking place across the system for the airline's 50th anniversary, one stands alone.
Among the guests at an old-timers' dinner hosted by the Chairman and President, were eight 'originals' from the team of people who started TCA in 1937.
Click the image below for the full article.
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Members of the class of '37 are shown, from the left: Russ Bulger, Dick Leigh, Bruce Saunders, Rene Giguère, Herb Seagrim, Lindy Rood, Ches Rickard and George Lothian.
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 Shirlee Schacter shares this information - |
 The Ontario District Pionairs held their Fall Member Appreciation Luncheon at the Mandarin Flagship in Brampton on October 8, 2025.
Always a sold-out event, it features great food, prize draws and a now popular 'Wings of Knowledge Team Trivia' contest, created by District Director, Carla Marraffino.
It has become a popular addition with extra-special prizes were donated by Sherri and Fred Longstreet.
Another popular feature was Roger Slauenwhite's display of airline memorabilia. This twice a year 'Appreciation Lunch' event continues to be partially subsidized by the Ontario District as a 'Thank you' for the ongoing support of their loyal members.
If you are an Air Canada / Canadian Airlines retiree and have not yet joined the Pionairs, you can do so at Pionairs.ca.
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 Captain Fatima Nabeel Al Qaood, of Qatar Airways, has made history as Bahrain's first female captain to command the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft.
Her achievement symbolizes exceptional technical mastery, leadership, and the breaking of gender barriers in aviation.
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Fly the Flag
November 27, 2025 - Air Canada today proudly unveiled a special livery honouring our Canadian Olympians and Paralympians competing in the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
This bold design on Fin 940, an Airbus A330, features images of Team Air Canada Athlete Ambassadors and embodies the strength, dedication and national pride of Team Canada. The first scheduled flight for this special Team Canada livery is flight AC894 today headed for Milan!
As the Official Airline of Team Canada, Air Canada will once again Fly The Flag, transporting more than 750 athletes and delegation members to and from the Games. The airline’s employee-driven Going for Gold program, further supports Team Canada in ensuring a seamless travel experience for Canada’s top athletes.
Click the image below to view the YouTube video.
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 for the latest posts at the Air Canada Media Centre. |
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 Click the logo to open the Air Canada YouTube channel. |
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Here is an excerpt from 'Your Souvenir Portfolio' distributed during early TCA North Star flights.
Click an image to view the full document.
Welcome Aboard Your Trans-Canada Skyliner flying the 'The Maple Leaf Route'.
We are glad to have you with us as a passenger on this flight.
If this is your "first-time" flying with TCA we are sure you'll enjoy the thrill of a delightful experience.
If you are a frequent TCA passenger-we are pleased to welcome you again as an old friend.
A host of services and conveniences surround you-thoughtfully planned to make your flight both restful and enjoyable.
These are described elsewhere in this Souvenir Portfolio. If you wish more information about any of them, just ask your Flight Attendant.
Take this Souvenir Portfolio along with you, your Steward or Stewardess will be glad to supply a special envelope for it.
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Found in 'Horizons' magazine
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Issue dates June 1994
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RESIII training was conducted in Port of Spain, Trinidad for representatives from various Caribbean islands.
Al Graham Vice President, Customer Service with Eileen McCoy, General Manager, Customer Service - U.S. and South attended to provide some words of encouragement.
From left to right: Les Nanton, Antigua; Tony St. Hill, Barbados; Ali Ferdinand, St. Lucia; Cliffe West, Port of Spain: Ben Ngafuk, Port of Spain; Gillian Jack, Port of Spain; Eileen McCoy, Miami; Kawal Singh, Port of Spain; Lorna Lord, Port of Spain; Tom Wallace, Port of Spain; Sandra Grant, Barbados; David Greenidge, Barbados; Indra Mahraj, Port of Spain; Dean Demontbrun, Port of Spain; Marie-Claire Maille, Guadeloupe; Errol Dhanpath, Port of Spain; Amela Samlal, Port of Spain and Al Graham, Montreal.
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Issue dated July 1994
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Stetsons and bagpipes for inaugural.
Western Stetsons and Scottish bagpipes may seem a strange mixture, but it's not every day that Air Canada inaugurates service from Glasgow to Calgary and Vancouver. The new route began on June 19, 1994 and continued throughout that summer.
The inaugural crew for flight 847: Flight Attendants M. Hilson, L. Flather, N. Saunders, A. Connolly and C. Middlestead; Captain R. Shortill and First Officer Phil Lacey.
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Way to go team.
During 1994, the Air Canada 'Dragon Flys' joined over 100 international teams in that year's Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver.
That year's race attracted teams from as far away as Germany, England and Australia. The Dragon Flys put on great show, placing third in one of the heats, only three seconds behind the first place boat.
The race was a gruelling three minutes, with all 20 paddlers striking the water in unison, striving to guide the 1,400-pound boat at a beat of 72 strokes per minute. This is definitely a water sport and not for anyone concerned about having a bad hair day. Reported by Karen Pawliuk.
Front row, left to right: Terry Glass, Dorothy Stauffer, Caro Clark, David Young and George Agnew.
Second row: Karen Pawliuk, Anne-Marie Cathcart, Leslie Poulin, Karen Friedrich, Jack Harland and Todd Wagner.
Back row: Bill Devlin, Earl Einarson, Monica Webb, Danny Budihardjo, Andrea Piscopo, Ian Watt, Wayne McIntyre, Sybil Wyles and Walter Low.
Missing are: Andrea Stapleton, Doug Garey, Anne Senko and Sharen Rogers.
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CP Air / Canadi>n People Gallery |
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CPA Cargo Marketing Bulletin Summer 1992.
YUL Telephone Sales and Service Centre say 'Sí' to Mexico.
Hiding behind those big sombreros in back row are, from left to right: Karim Mohsen, Clara Ciampini, Denise Dubois, Jacques Lacas, and Mirko Bertoldi.
In front, from the left, are: Karola Oates, Norm Pickering, France Pellerin, Alida lannuzzi, Lorna Difiore and Antonio Sammartino.
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From the "Canadi>n Flyer" magazine.
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Issue dated April 1999
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Our first graduating class of Flight Attendants for 1999 is all smiles as they proudly pose in front of our newly painted B-767 at the Vancouver Ops Centre Hangar in early March.
The vast majority of this class, who graduated after nine weeks of training, will be based out of Toronto. We took possession of this B-767 (Fin #645) from Asiana Airlines during the fall of 1998.
Editors' Note: Persons in the photo are not identified in the original text. Do you recognize anyone?
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Our video comes from the Air Canada YouTube channel posted in December 2022.
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Air Canada: Thank you to all our employees.
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A brief history of Air BC
 Air BC was a Canadian regional airline headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia. It was established in 1980 after the merger (by the Jim Pattison Group) of a number of west coast domestic airlines, Calumet Air Service, Canadian Air Transit, Flight Operation, Gulf Air Aviation, Haida Airlines, Island Airlines, Omineca Air Services, Pacific Coast Air Services and West Coast Air Services.
A combined fleet emerged, including STOL capable de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters with some Twin Otters being operated as float planes (photo below). In 1983, STOL capable DHC-7 Dash 7 turboprop aircraft were delivered and then in 1986 DHC-8 Dash 8-100 turboprops were acquired.
In 1987, Air Canada purchased 85% of Air BC and it became one of the regional partners operating as an Air Canada Connector. Air BC entered the jet age in 1988 with British Aerospace BAe 146-200 aircraft.
From Horizons magazine - October 1987
"The alliance with Air BC is one of the most positive developments for Air Canada in its 50 years of operating out of Vancouver," says Al Thompson, General Manager, B.C. and Pacific Northwest. "Air BC's services to 20 destinations in B.C., Alberta and the U.S. has brought valuable feed to our main line operations and sales results have been very encouraging," he adds.
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A Twin Otter floatplane docks at Victoria's harbour terminal.
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Thank You by Sue Welscheid
I went looking through past Horizons issues for a source of a Christmas themed article. I found an article with the perfect sentiment written by Sue Welscheid (then Horizons Editor - now Pionairs Pension Committee Chair) for the December 2003 cover of Horizons.
Although written in the context of turbulent times, it does seem to be just as relevant today. Our thanks to Sue!
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 Click the icon to view the original article. |
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Thank You
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- To our people on the ground and in the air who keep our operations safe - thanks for making sure that we continue to shine;
- To those wonderful customers who take the time to write in and commend our service - those letters give all of us a real boost;
- To those employees who caused those customers to write, for putting the customers first and making them feel special;
- To the folks at SOC, IT and the operations who worked tirelessly at getting us and our customers through and out of the power outage this summer;
- To some of our longstanding suppliers who continued to provide valuable services;
- To everyone who got dressed up at Halloween and helped us all have some fun;
- To everyone who has written something nice about Air Canada people in letters to editors or in their own newspaper or magazine columns - those positive comments have really helped;
- To the ladies who send me great jokes by e-mail almost every day and keep me and many others laughing;
- And finally, to everyone in the Air Canada family (and that includes retirees) for pulling together shoulder to shoulder, and proving yet again, despite all odds, that this great airline will continue to fly and represent the best of what Canada has to offer the world.
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| Terry's Trivia
& Travel Tips |
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Terry Baker, co-founder of the NetLetter scours the internet for aviation related Trivia and Travel Tips for you, our readers, to peruse.
Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.
Plaque from the Trethewey Airfield.
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More defunct airlines of Canada
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Air Atlantic was established in 1986 and operated as a feeder airline for Canadian Pacific Airlines and later Canadian Airlines throughout Atlantic Canada. It ceased operations in October 1998.
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Air Atlantic BAE 146-200
October 1994
Photo by Udo Haafke
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McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62H/CF
Canadian registration C-FHAA
at Miami December 1994
Photo by JetPix
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Awood Air based in Victoria and operated from 1962 to 2000.
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British Aerospace BAe-748 Srs2B/FAA
Canadian registration C-GHSF
(en route to new owner in South Africa)
at Faro, Portugal - September 1999
Photo by Pedro Aragão
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Issue dated December 1973
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"Never mind that sack of toys...find my razor and two cushions"
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Wayne, Ken & Terry Richmond, British Columbia - December 2019
(Bob Sheppard was not available for the photograph) |
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Wayne, Bob & Ken Richmond, British Columbia - December 2023
(Terry Baker was not available for the photograph) |
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We wish to honour the memories of
Vesta Stevenson and Alan Rust. They remain a part of every edition published. |
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E&OE - (errors and omissions excepted):
The historical information as well as any other information provided in the "NetLetter" is subject to correction and may have changed over time.
We do publish corrections (and correct the original article) when this is brought to our attention.
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