Yvonne Peel, retired Air Canada flight attendant, has put together a collection of her memories and experiences during her 31 years adventure with the airline. Her story first started off in NetLetter #1381, continued in #1382 and #1390. Here we have another episode.
No holding tanks.
The Viscount aircraft was really the workhorse of the fleet. It was used for short hops but was also able to land in the cold far north of the country.
Under no circumstances could anyone use the toilet or drain water from the galley once on the ground because otherwise poor unsuspecting mechanical staff or baggage handlers could be showered due to the fact the aircraft had no holding tank!
Barbara Dunn would also like to share her memory of the infamous Montreal snowstorm.
I too remember the snowstorm in March of 1971.
We were on course to become flight attendants. We woke that morning and one of our instructors who lived in downtown Montreal, and rode with us on the bus each morning to Dorval, phoned the training centre and was told that class would proceed as scheduled. We all piled onto our 2 buses and headed for the airport.
The highway exit to the training centre was closed by the time we got there so another phone call was made at a gas station, no cell phones in 1971, and we were told to head back to town as classes were cancelled for the day.
Eventually our bus got stuck in the snow on Sources Road and our trip came to a screeching halt. Nowhere to go, no food or drinks. All we could do was wait.
After a few hours one of our group decided she could not wait any longer - she had to find a ladies room. She spotted a house off in the distance and off she trudged. About 30 minutes later she came back to the bus and announced that the lady of the house had invited as all in for something to eat. Apparently she had done a huge shop a few days before and filled her freezer.
So off we all went, in groups of 10 I think, trekking through the deep snow to be welcomed by this wonderful family who took us in and fed us sandwiches and soup. We discovered that her husband worked for CP.
After a while we were all back on the bus and I think several of us fell asleep only to be woken by the sound of several snowmobiles circling the bus. The lady of the house had called the local radio station to say there was a bus load of Air Canada stewardesses stuck in the snow. A group of enterprising young men had come to rescue the damsels in distress with chocolate bars and other delectable snacks.
After a few more hours the bus was able to get underway and we made it as far as Pointe-Claire were we spent the night sleeping on chairs and couches at a local hotel.
The next morning we got back to our hotel in Montreal to discover that the second bus had made it back into Montreal the day before and the hotel had treated them to a special dinner to compensate for their ordeal. Oh well, we had the best story.
Barb