Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

Donation of power plants.

During 2013, Air Canada Maintenance sought to dispose of two surplus engines but, rather than sell them for scrap, the engines were donated to two Ontario community colleges for aviation technician programs.

The colleges welcomed the donations because they can be used to provide students hands-on, practical training.

Another educational initiative is Air Canada’s ongoing support of the Centre for Labour Management Studies at Ryerson University.

David McLean helps transfer the engine to Glen Burgess from the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technician Program at Centennial College. 

(Source: Citizens of the World 2013 edition)

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

(Source: moments.aircanada.com/timeline)

1965 - Inventing the black box.

The airline helps make history in 1965 by assisting Midas and Royston Instruments, an English electronics company, to develop the multichannel flight recorder, the world's first black box.

1966 - Letter from a flight attendant.

"When I joined the airline in 1966, we were called stewardesses and we wore the green uniform with the rounded hats perched on our heads and black leather eight-button length gloves. Our hair couldn't touch our collar, our lipstick could not have a shine and we had to wear a girdle.

My favourite airplane to fly in those days was the Viscount. The airplane was a joy to fly in with its large oval windows and generous seating. Not everyone could afford to fly in those days and it was a big deal for passengers.

Security at airports was non-existent and you could go right up to the windows and watch the planes arrive and depart and wave to your loved ones. We used to stand proudly at the top of the air stairs and wave to the air traffic controllers in the tower at our station stops".

Our customer service staff at Newark include (back row left to right):

Customer Service Agents Maxine Freeman-Ficktin, Dotty Gibau and Mary Ellen Kein; Deborah DeWalt-Kiala, Supervisor; Customer Service Agents Alicia Moftah, Lorraine McNicholas, Philip Bruno, Maggie Karageorge, Connie Johnson and Lorraine Selecky.

And in front are (same order):

Walter Heckman, Supervisor; Customer Service Agents Karen Robinson and Luz Ruiz; Toni Krispien, Aircraft Service Coordinator and Customer Service Agents Joan Saltanis and Gail Zaremba.

Missing from the photo are:

Customer Service Agents Manita Bailey, Mary Ann Zulueta, Herbert Zimmerman, Dennis Byrne, Sheela Terezian, Sue Grandt, George Ward, Tim Gustafson, Hal Farber, John Gileza and Lisa Pierce; Al Zeller, Airport Manager; Aircraft Service Coordinators Sydney Parris and Mike Fedewicz; Secretary Patti Paskow.

Homeward bound.

Air Canada fin #204 will long occupy a special place in the memories of a group of Customer Care winners who took delivery of Air Canada's fourth A320 in Toulouse, France on Saturday March 17, 1990. 

Bright and early in the morning the group departed for Blagnac Airport and there on the tarmac sat the gleaming new plane. 

The In-Flight crew (left) of Janice Baptiste, Chantal Viau (seated), Bob Daoust and Bruno Ciaramicoli greeted the excited passengers. 

Up in the cockpit (below), Captains Gilles Larue and Jean Corbeil carried out final instrument checks.

Moments later, Air Canada fin #204 was thundering down the runway, lifting off and heading west.

Air Canada Recreation Association (ACRA) organizers meet.

Ottawa hosted the annual joint conference of ACRA Presidents and System Event Chairpersons.

In all, 25 Presidents and 14 Chairpersons got together to discuss activities for the betterment of their organization and interesting programs for members or participants.

The two newest 'ACRA's' are Charlottetown and Fredericton. We now have at least one 'ACRA' in each Canadian province as well as several international stations.

In the accompanying photo, President Pierre Jeanniot, who was guest of honour at the luncheon, is shown (third from right) with the Presidents and Chairpersons (or their representatives).

Also on hand were Gerry Philbrook, Manager, Employee Relations and Customer Care Development (front row, left) and Gail Ellis, Employee Services Coordinator (second from right).

ACRA presidents (or a representative) who attended the meeting included:

Sheila Snow-Cline (YVR), Rose Ortlieb (YEG), Diana Duval (YWG), Jeannie Lindo (YYZ), Jim Batten (YOW), Fern Villemarie (YUL), Ron Corbin (YSJ), Gordon Graham (YHZ), Peter Kemp (LHR), Cory Smith (LAX), Kathy Johnson (YQT), Louise Bariault (YQB), Coleman Stack (YYT), Frank Belliveau (YQM), Larry Lee (YXU), Duncan Butchart (YYC), Barbara Bermoth (FRA), Penny Cronin (YXE), Brent Chisan (YQR), Rodney Java (SFO), Robi Adaskes (NYC), Annie Villecrose (PAR), Mario De Souza (BOM), Dave Spence (YYG), Albert Finnan (YFC).

System Event Chairpersons (or their representative) in attendance included:

Ken Hansen (Curling), Brian Murray (Golf), Bill Saunders (Bowling), Mike McHenry (Art), Peter Lay (Soccer), Judy Smandych (Darts), Lucie Chabot-Gagnon (Softball), Janice Riccillo (Skiing). Gary Bauer (Tennis), Evan Quick (Squash), Barry Drinkle (Photography), Peter Phillips (ACE fly-in) and Richard Jackson (Badminton).

Moncton celebrates 50 years of service.

Earlier in 1990, Moncton celebrated 50 years of passenger service by TCA/Air Canada.

Back in 1940 the arrival of TCA's silver winged L-14-H was an historic event both for Moncton and for Canada, as it marked the introduction of cross Canada airline service by Trans-Canada Air Lines. 

The launching of service to Moncton had an impact on the fledgling airline's bottom line. By the end of 1940, TCA recorded its first surplus - $539,263.

On hand to mark Moncton's 50th anniversary are (left to right):

Jean-Marc Trottier, Manager, Moncton; Barry MacInnes, General Manager, Atlantic Canada; Claude Taylor, Chairman of the Board; Kevin Gleeson, former Manager, Moncton and currently Manager, Airport Operations Control, Toronto; Dave Russell, Manager, New Brunswick and Morley Ryder, Sales Manager, Air Nova and a former Air Canada employee.

A non-smoking airline.

When Air Canada announced back in July that, effective October 1, 1990, it would be introducing a smoke-free environment on all transatlantic and European flights, our Advertising and Promotion departments saw an opportunity to do some exciting promotional work.

In North America, where a growing number of people support the non-smoking trend, Air Canada’s announcement was greeted with praise and letters of commendation which have poured in from health departments, medical associations, other corporations and the media.

In a news bulletin, the Canadian Council on Smoking and Health congratulated Air Canada on its "courageous leadership" and urged its members to "patronize Air Canada in a show of support for this pioneering move".

A print ad, which ran for a three-week period in Canada's major dailies and financial newspapers and as an insert in Saturday newspapers, carried a serious yet tongue-in-cheek message aimed at both smokers and non-smokers: "On October 1 we quit smoking; really".

The accompanying text highlighted Air Canada's leadership role in pioneering non-smoking flights and its ongoing commitment to respond to customers' preference for a smoke-free environment.

Air Canada has been a pioneer in promoting non-smoking flights. Here are some of the non-smoking milestones that we've passed over the years:

April 1971 - Air Canada offered passengers a choice of smoking or non-smoking seats on its B-747 aircraft and soon extended this policy to all its domestic and international services.

April 1986 - Air Canada pioneered non-smoking flights in North America with the introduction of a three-month smoke-free trial on 39 of 72 daily Rapidair flights.

July 1986 - More than half of Air Canada's daily Rapidair frequencies became non-smoking flights.

April 1987 - Air Canada became the first major North American carrier to introduce the smoke-free concept in the US by expanding its non-smoking policy to flights between Toronto/Montreal and New-York.

October 1987 - Air Canada introduced the concept of non-smoking 'breaks” on flights of more than three hours.

September 1988 - Air Canada became the first Canadian airline to ban smoking on all its charter and scheduled flights within North America - including the Caribbean, Hawaii, Florida, California and Mexico.

October 1990 - Air Canada became the first scheduled airline in the world to offer smoke-free flights between North America and Europe.

Below are some of the adverts for France, Zurich, Vienna and Germany.