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( For retirees of the new Air Canada family)
Number 481 May 11th, 2000, We first Published in October 1995
Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson - Co-pilot - Terry Baker
e-mail address is:
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. Need to know.
New ticket delivery options for employee travel. To better serve employees,
Industry Travel and the Employee Call Centre teamed up to introduce the
following new ticket delivery options for employee travel tickets. Travel
partner passes can be delivered by courier within four business days to the
employee's home address at a cost of CA $20.00, collected by credit card,
and ZED fares, ID75 and ID90 tickets can be delivered by Company mail.
RUMOURS
Rumour: AC has moved $400 million of CDN's debt onto Canadian Regional
Airlines (CRA), making CRA unattractive to any potential buyer.
Truth: This is false.
Rumour: Since CDN employees will achieve wage parity with AC employees, AC
employees will receive parity with CDN's benefits.
Truth: This is false. There are no changes to AC's terms and conditions of
employment.
Rumour: AC front-line management are no longer required to wear uniforms.
Truth: This is false. AC front-line managers will continue to wear uniforms.
No changes to this policy are being contemplated at this time.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: What kind of deals are we making with CDN's creditors? Just a certain
percentage of their debt, or, if they wait, all of it?
A: The plan filed with the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, under the
Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), provides for 92 cents on the
dollar to be paid to secured creditors and 12 cents on the dollar for
unsecured creditors. For aircraft creditors, the deals vary but are all
based on AC paying market rates for the assets versus the inflated rates
which CDN were paying.
Q: Are CDN's leased aircraft being return to their lessors?
A: All DC-10 aircraft have been returned.
Q: If the Steering Committee advises Air Canada to not continue with the
acquisition of Canadian Airlines, what happens to the routes that we have
already changed or assigned to them?
A: We certainly don't expect this to happen. If it did, we would have to
re-assign routes. The Tokyo-Toronto route would remain with Air Canada as it
was purchased from Canadian Airlines.
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. Welcome to
Donald Cameron AC Captain YUL living in Ottawa, ON
Robert Snape email
Jim McKeachie of West Vancouver, BC I am retired from the position of Director of Public
Relations at the then CP Air. and thus am on the retiree list for Canadian
Airlines International. My e-mail address is <mailto:
Rosemary Dart. I am a retired AC employee.
Claude Burry Maintenance 1946 to 1981 lives in Truro NS
NS District Mtce Manager Eastern AC
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" ' "
. We recently welcomed Eric van der Holt, who sends this bio -
I am a member of the Comox Valley Pionairs and have been living
here, with my wife, Joan, since 1994, when we moved here from London,
ON. Prior to that we had lived in Oakville prior to retirement.
My Company history started in Sep. 1956 with employment at YYB as an
Operations Agent II, which title was later changed to Station Agent II
when we switched from the Telegraphers Union to the IAM. In 1957 I opted
to become a "Regional Spare Station Agent" which had me covering
vacation relief at YSB, YXR, YTS and YYU (that's Kapuskasing, in case
you've forgotten). In 1958 the Regional Spare staff was reduced and I
was posted to YSB as permanent staff. Wishing to improve my lot with the
Company, I applied for and was accepted into Flight Dispatch at YUL in
Jan 1965. I continued to work there until consolidation of Flt. Dispatch
in 1978 when YUL was closed down, the other Dispatch offices having
already been closed down, and we were all transferred to YYZ. I enjoyed
the remainder of my career with Air Canada at YYZ, retiring in 1990.
I look forward to making use of the acfamily web site and contacting old
acquaintances who are on the Internet.
Eric van der Holt <
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" ' "
. News from the districts.
From the London, England monthly newsletter -
Upcoming events -
May 15th - AGM UK Pionairs at Heathrow.
May 16th - ACRA Theatre trip - 'The King & I'
May 22/23rd - 2 day trip to France/Belgium/Holland.
Jul 3rd - ACRA theatre trip - 'Witches of Eastwick'
Jul 19th - Evening London tour with a 'Dickens' theme.
Nov 27-29th - UK Pionairs trip to Niagara, ON - planned.
Dec 10th - Christmas lunch at Heathrow Park Hotel.
The ACRA Theatre visit 'The Witches of Eastwick'. Coach leaves Commissary
Heathrow at 18:00., on July 3rd. This is a modern musical comedy.
Cost is GBP23.00 members and GBP26.00 others. The value of the
theatre ticket is GBP37.50.
Continental trip - May 22/23rd. Coach departs 07:00 from Heathrow Park Hotel
for the journey to Folkstone to catch the 10:00 train for Calais, France.
Departing Calais and drive through France into Belgium arriving at the
Hotel Mercure Diamant in Antwerp. The second day drive to Holland to visit
the bulb fields, cheese factory and clog centre. On return to Calais a stop at
the hypermarket is planned. Total cost is GBP59.00 to include coach, train,
hotel and continental breakfast.
Don Hancock - Director Vancouver district sends us an update -
Subject: YVR Pionairs Coffee Clubs (Ladner)
Here is another update about YVR Pionairs Coffee Clubs. This time we report
from Terri & John Fitzgibbon and Doris Grant, the "Hosts in Ladner BC".
Ladner meets every fourth Tuesday at Rickeys Restaurant located on the Ladner
Trunk Road.
The first meeting was February 22nd, cloudy and raining, (nothing new in BC
eh?), but this did not deter a great turnout of AC Pionairs. Great enthusiasm
prevailed as 30 Pionairs, a goodly number of whom we have not seen for many
moons enjoyed lively discussions pertaining to the AC/CAIL merging dialogue
and the major revisions recently introduced to Employee Travel and the
ability to travel on CAIL flights. Some of the attendees were as follows:
Glken Steeves, Marv Lohnes, Mr. Mrs Sadu Ahmed, Cliff Andrews,
Mr. Mrs. Edward Berrie, Mr. Mrs. Ed Clwell, Jean Chernenko, Mr. Mrs. David Cooper,
Marjorie Coon, Kathleen Donnolly, John and Terri Fitzgibbon, Doris Grant,
Margaret Kirkpatrick, Mr. Mrs. Norman Snihur, Mr. Mrs. Joe Taylor, Mr. mrs. Ewen Taylor,
Mr. Mrs. Russel Verrall, Mr. Mrs. Robert Wilson, Frank Dunlop,
Mr. Mrs. Pat Oflynn, Mr. mrs Bob MacDonald, George and Agnes Twells,
Lynn Cockrill, Sonjah Bonsdrup, Kathleen Kulhanian, Elsie Turnecki, and Don Hancock.
The next meeting will be convened on May 23rd, 1000 at Rickeys Restaurant
Ladner BC so come along and join in the fun and lively discussion.
A decision will be made at this meeting if a June date will be confirmed.
There will not be Coffee Club meetings in July or August but they will resume
in September.
For up to date info call Terri Fitzgibbon at 940-1849.
From Don Hancock -
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. Ross Smyth sends us this informarion -
Subject: Memorabilia Room
Terry Baker reported well on the first day's activity at the recent Pionair
convention in Vancouver.
Having spent time with those tireless workers, Fraser and Joan Muir who staffed the
Memorabilia Room, I ask your readers to climb into their attics or descend into their
cellars where they may discover junk now valuable in relating the early story of the
company.
Here are a few items on display ranging from the original corporate seal
in 1937 to elegant royal blue stewardess uniforms; from Royal Mint medals
of our early aircraft to a ten-year service award signed by president
Gordon McGregor (including a shot of stew Marg Brezinski); from old CN and
TCA passes to a pay cheque stub showing the huge income tax deduction of 77
cents.
My chest puffed out when I saw the 1967 Speakers Guide I had written, but
it soon deflated when Fraser said it was there for the cover picture of
Donald MacLaren, first world war ace and our very first employee.
A company desk pennant of not so long ago was autographed by famous golfers such as
Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
Convention delegate Gord Hykle and I were radio operators in 1943
at Kapuskasing where one of our many duties was to provide each stewardess
with a thermos of hot water for the flight coffee. A model 1940 electric thermos was on display..
I sadly reminisced seeing a book, Flight Deck, by George Lothian who
died in February. I agreed with Fraser who said all pilots should read it.
It used to be in our company library (when we had one in the good old days)
I scrutinized a captain's bulletin on the early Tampa route signed
by captain John Laskoski, a golfing buddy of many old timers.
There was china and silverware from the first class section of our Super Connies -
presented by former president John Baldwin, now a resident of Kingston,
Ontario.
For the real old timers there were thoughtful comments from Philip
Johnson, our first VP of operations, and from early check pilot Art Hollinsworth who once
told me he was almost eaten to death by mosquitoes when he crashed during his bush
flying days in northern Ontario in the 1930s.
Perhaps some day we shall have the walls of our memorabilia room lined
with paintings and blown up photographs of the recent past.
Let's keep our great flying heritage alive. Please don't forget to look in your attics
and cellars and see what you can find to reward Fraser and Joan Muir for all their work
on our behalf.
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. From the YYZNEWS issued by Brian Dunn -
With the on-going integration of Air Canada and Canadian Airlines one of the fall-
outs is that approximately 100 Hudson General employees in Calgary will be laid off. They currently ground handle CAC flights there. Effective June 4th, Air Canada will takeover handling of all CP flights at Calgary airport. Air Canada may have to hire some employees for the extra workload so some of the H-G employees may get work.
On May 1st Air Alliance (aka Air Georgian) started a new service to Louisville KY
with three trips per business day utilizing their 18-passenger Beech 1900D aircraft.
AIRLINER and AVIATION COLLECTABLES SHOW
Saturday, May 13, 2000 1000 to 1500hrs
at Royal Canadian Legion hall, 3263 Derry Rd. E, Malton ON
For more information or table reservations please e-mail to Steve Emmins at
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" ' "
. Alan Rust found this -
Taken off the Internet.... (author unknown)
How did the airports get their 3 letter codes?
From ABE (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, Pennsylvania) to ZRH (Zurich, Switzerland),
airports around the world are universally known by a unique three-letter code:
the "Location Identifier" in aviation-speak. It's obviously much easier for pilots,
controllers, travel agents, frequent flyers, computers and baggage handlers to say
and write ORD than the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois --
but how did this practice start, and why are some airport codes easy to understand
(ABE and ZRH) while others seem to make absolutely no sense (ORD)?
When the Wright brothers first took to the air in 1903, there was no need for coding
airports since an airport was literally any convenient field with a strong wind.
However, the National Weather Service did tabulate data from cities around the country
using a two-letter identification system. Early airlines simply copied this system, but
as airline service exploded in the 1930's, towns without weather station codes needed
identification.
A bureaucrat had a brainstorm, and the three-letter system was born, giving a seemingly
endless 17,576 different combinations. To ease the transition, existing airports placed
an X after the weather station code. The Los Angeles tag became LAX.
Incidentally at the historic sand dune in Kitty Hawk, the U.S. National Parks Service
maintains a tiny airstrip called FFA - First Flight Airport.
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. Terry's travel tips.
Check your passport validity. Entry to some countries require a minimum
of six months validity or entry will be denied.
When using standby passes, in particular to popular destinations, purchase
back up tickets, either ID50, ID90 or Zonal fare. If these backup tickets are
not needed, you can apply for a refund.
The following WACA events are due during June -
JUN 05-10 Dodo's Nest MAURITIUS
08-11 Jamaica Jump-Up JAMAICA
16-19 Fantastic Finland HELSINKI
21-24 WACA Football Tournament HUNGARIAN
24-30 Spectacular Switzerland ZURICH
29-04JUL Singapore Sale and Malaysia Tour SINGAPORE deadline 31MAY00
cost SG$850
Contact your local interline club for details.
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. Smilie.
Karl Eliason sends these -
Subject: Enjoy your next flight
On a Continental Flight with a very "senior" flight attendant crew, I
heard: "Ladies and gentlemen we've reached a cruising altitude and will
be tuning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to
enhance the appearance of your flight attendants." On landing she said:
"Please be sure to take all your belongings. If you're going to leave
anything please make sure it's something we'd like."
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"Your seat cushions can be used for flotation, and in the event of an
emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our
compliments."
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"Last one off the plane must clean it."
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After a real crusher of a landing in Phoenix, the Flight Attendant came
on with, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Please remain in your seats until Camp.
Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt
against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning
bells are silenced, we'll open the door and you can pick your way
through the wreckage to the terminal."
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Important reminder, for all new articles, submissions and or comments
for the "The Netletter" please send to:
Our joint e-mail address is:
please change your Address Books.
This e-mail address has been set up so that both of us (exclusively)
will get an automatic copy and can keep up with the continuity of
news for the NetLetter.
Why not check out the Air Canada Retired Employees Web Site
http://www.acfamily.net/acrew/
Independently operated by webmaster Tom Grant.
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Mailing of 'the NetLetter" is courtesy of Alan Rust administrator of
the "AC Family Network" at: http://www.acfamily.net
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