May 1, 2018 - Introduced non-stop service between Toronto (YYZ) and Buenos Aires (EZE) aboard our Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

In the past, we operated this route via Santiago as southbound YYZ-SCL-EZE and northbound EZE-SCL-YYZ. Now our YYZ-EZE and YYZ-SCL flights will each be non-stop.

(Source: Daily May 2, 2018)

Air Canada does not plan to exercise its remaining thirteen B-787 options as per CFO Michael Rouseau. The company has decided on the less costly option of upgrading the cabins on its current A330-300 fleet to match the B-787's.  They will also add another four leased A330's.

(Source: Canadian Aviation News)

Air mail service is 70 years old.

• "All up" service for first class mail, inaugurated July l, 1948.
• Canada Post and Air Canada - both known in those days as the Post Office Department of Canada and Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA).
• And what did "all up" mean? Simply this: an ordinary letter bearing the usual four-cent stamp for surface mail would henceforth be dispatched to its destination by air. 

(Source: “Horizons” July, 1983)

Paul Goodman has sent us these photos of CP Air Reservation Agents from the early seventies when their office was at Vancouver reservations on Burrard Street.

It would be interesting to see if anyone else has photos from this era. Note: We're not sure if these are re-union photos or photos from the 70's, we'll verify this in our next issue.

Air Canada NAVI magazine was launched in March 2017.

On the left we have the issue for September 2017 cover page.

Below is a photo of the crew. 

New edition of NAVI magazine available on aircraft in May 2018.

Beginning with NAVI onboard issue 10 (spring 2018), the publication will exclusively be found in our literature packs in Air Canada wide body J seatbacks. This will bring back the accessibility and visibility of NAVI onboard, while also managing costs. Please note it will no longer be included in the Fly-Away kits on any aircraft.

NAVI will continue to be available in our Maple Leaf lounges, Concierge offices and the Air Canada Signature Suite. In addition, our sales teams will have copies to distribute to customers, partners and industry associates. New employees can also get a copy of NAVI at their orientation to help them learn more about our company.

(Source: Daily April 16, 2018)

"Baker's Dozen" retires.

Approximately 250 friends, relatives, industrial associates and assorted well-wishers gathered on Friday April 15, 1983 at Chicago's Sheraton International Hotel to bid farewell to 13 Central U.S. Area managers who opted for early retirement.

The ballroom was decorated with a set depicting the retirees in full jump suits, "bailing out" of old TCA planes. The set which extended around three walls of the room, used old photos of the 13 in their younger days, blown up larger than life.

Highlight of the evening was a "roast", presided over by Gordon Froede, Central U.S. General Manager.

Each one of the "Baker's Dozen" was required to sit back in a lounge chair and don sunglasses and a sun hat while the roast took place. Each retiree was roasted in turn by one of his confreres, with only a few moments for "rebuttal".

The evening ended with the presentation of retirement gifts to the 13 by Pat Labrie, Vice President, U.S. and South.

In this photo, from the left: Art Suffron, Dallas/Ft. Worth; Bob Affleck, Houston; Angus May, Chicago; Bernie Diable, Cincinnati; Al Rogers, Milwaukee; Peter Bell, Cleveland; Alex Douglas, Chicago; Lee Green, Cleveland; Laurie Davis, Chicago; Frank Andreas, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Ron Miles, Chicago. 

(Note: Only 11 retirees appear in the photo – eds)

DC-8 sets (Olympic) record

On October 3, 1964, a TCA DC-8 CF-TJP fin 816 c/n 45679 that had carried the Canadian Olympic Team to Japan makes a non-stop return flight to Montreal in a record time of 12 hours, 24 minutes.

Note: Our sharp eyed NL proofreader, Ken Pickford, added this comment regarding the photo;

"Just curious re the DC-8 photo (Fin 816) and the text. At first I assumed the photo showed the Canadian Olympic team mentioned in the text, but it obviously isn't as they're all Japanese and nearly all male. Looks like some Japanese youth charter group. Just wondering whether the original source says who the passengers were? And was that really the return nonstop Tokyo-Montreal flight mentioned prior to departure? (it's obviously Japan due to the JAL ground equipment near the nose). I'm amazed a DC-8 could operate TYO-YUL nonstop with what looks like a full load.. That's 6486 miles, at least 1000 miles further than any DC-8 operated in scheduled service (e.g. it's about 100 miles further than HKG-YVR). I could see it perhaps being possible as an empty ferry flight with favourable winds, but did it really carry all those passengers nonstop? I had at first assumed that the nonstop mentioned was a ferry flight, but if so, who are all those people in the photo?

Do any of our readers happen to be familiar with this photo and flight? It was gleaned from http://moments.aircanada.com/timeline/1964-dc-8-sets-olympic-record/

1938 at a glance

By the end of 1938, the TCA fleet consisted of five Lockheed Electras and nine Lockheed Super Electras. An adequate supply of spare engines and propellers was on hand to guarantee continual service.

The staff increased to 332 employees, and TCA continued to train new pilots and crews. A major repair and maintenance base was established in Winnipeg at the heart of the country, and a total of 2,086 passengers were flown in TCA's first year. 

(Source: moments.aircanada.com/timeline)

1939 at a glance

By the end of 1939, TCA had 497 employees and 16 Lockheed Super Electras. Airmail operations were extended to Moncton, New Brunswick, and improvements were made throughout the year to enhance the maintenance facilities in Montreal and Toronto.

TCA operated daily flights to Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle.

How RAPCAN got its start!

It all began with the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association - Retired.

Who started CALPA (R)?

Air Canada Captain - RCAF Squadron Leader - Vancouver Streetcar Motorman, Bob McRae - that's who!

The years passed rapidly, and AC and CPA pilots started reaching retirement age. Many false starts were made with regard to associations for retired airline pilots. Frank Smythe made a tryout of Vancouver. Bill Marr made similar efforts in Toronto. The early efforts were all slanted towards individual airline associations, as had been the ongoing case in the USA.

Bill Marr was a driving force and very definitely deserves credit for the ongoing work he did on behalf of getting CALPA (R) up and running. To get it started, Captain McRae (at his own expense) went to Atlanta to meet with Delta retired association members and those of Eastern Air Lines. Next he wrote over sixty retired members, asking them for their interest in the formation of such an organization. Miraculously, he got nearly 100% responses, even from Bob Smuck away down in New Zealand.

In 1975, he asked for and got a meeting with Captains Ken Maley and Bruce Yake, President and First Vice President of CALPA. They were most receptive to his proposals. Captain Bruce Yake, in a letter to Captain McRae dated September 10, 1975, requested Captain McRae accept the project to establish CALPA (R).

The founding meeting of CALPA (R) was held on the final afternoon of the CALPA Convention in Montreal on November 25, 1976. At that meeting Captain John Wright reviewed the resolution that brought Captain Bob McRae from retirement to organize CALPA (R) and then asked him to take the chair. Captain F.E.W. Smith was elected the first President and Captain Bob McRae the first. Vice President, Captain Bert Birch, the second.

The first CALPA (R) Annual General Meeting was held in Anaheim, California on November 20, 1977.  Captain F.E.W. Smith in his President's Report stated "I hope a great many similar reports will follow in the years to come, that our organization will flourish as the medium through which men who have spent their working lives in the air will continue their lifelong associations and friendships. I believe there is a need for this.

A pilot's job is different from most occupations, being in part employment and in part a deep involvement in aviation and airplanes. Other people do not comprehend our way of life too clearly, we relate best to each other, and now that we are too old to drive through the high skies we should come together from time to time to enjoy our unique fraternity."

In 1996, after the breakup of CALPA into the Air Canada Pilots Association and the Air Line Pilots Association - International, in order to represent all airline pilots in Canada, RAPCAN came into being.

(Source: Rapcan.ca )

 Extracted from the “Parts & Pieces” magazine issued July/August 1991.

Collectively, 121 years’ service was lost to Air Canada with the retirement of these four in June 1991.

From the left: Ed McConnell, Campbell Kavanagh, Dick Wesener and Alex Dimitraki.

Memories of Airtransit

David Wood published this memory -

Walter Ekiert and I were among the first "test" passengers of Airtransit. I remember that trip through Walter's note: "We catch a bus at the Bonaventure at 16:40 for 17:00 flight - arrive Ottawa 18:00, one drink at Holiday Inn, catch bus at 18:30, take off 19:00, return Bonaventure 20:00."

Frontier tales from Pacific Western

Stuart Russell has sent us this information and photo -

Pacific Western Airlines DC-4 aircraft CF-PWJ at Winter Harbour on Melville Island, NWT, N74’48” Latitude W110’ 30” Longitude in April 1962. This aircraft is one of five DC-4's flown by PWA during the 1950s and 1960s and was used primarily for hauling cargo North from Edmonton and Yellowknife.

In the background is Peter Bawden Drilling rig #22, drilling the first oil exploration well in the Canadian High Arctic on behalf of Dome Petroleum and partners.

The well was drilled to a depth of 3828 M / 12,441 feet, and although there were no hydrocarbons found, it showed drilling could be accomplished in the remote arctic wilderness and was later followed by approx. 175 other wells in the High Arctic, drilled both on land, and from the offshore ice platforms, over the next 30+ years.

Pacific Western Douglas DC-4s, Lockheed Electras, Lockheed Hercules, Boeing 737C and 727C aircraft played a huge role in arctic oil and gas exploration over the years.

Photo courtesy of Jim Kulak.

From the "Canadian Pacific COMPASS" magazine issue 1981

The Air Bridge

One of the most significant contributions of Canadian Pacific to the war effort was in the air. In 1940, after only four months of preparation, a bomber delivery service by air to Britain had been organized and was operated by the company. The next year this now-vital service was turned over to the RAF and became the famous Ferry Command. The company also operated, on a non-profit basis, six Air Observer Schools training navigators for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Aircraft overhaul plants were also operated for the air training schools and RCAF.

Here we have the timetable for Voyageur issued May 10, 1987.

Operating since 1968, Voyageur Airways is a North Bay-based company offering air charter services, maintenance of private aircraft, ground handling and support services. The company still exists but no longer operates scheduled service. They operate a fleet of 17 aircraft.

Based at the North Bay Jack Garland Airport.

Address: 1500 Airport Road,  | North Bay, Ontario, P1B 8G2.

Legend returns, in name at least

If, as widely reported, Airbus scraps the C-Series brand once it takes over the struggling program from Bombardier - by renaming the 110-seat variant the A210, and its big sister the
A230 - it will be departing from the "A300" nomenclature used since it developed its original twinjet in the early 1970s.

However, the 210 designation does have some history for Toulouse, among those with long memories.

The pioneering Caravelle twinjet-produced by Airbus predecessor Sud Aviation - was the SE 210. SE stood for Sud Est, the original entity - that developed the first jet airliner for the short - and medium - haul market.

(Source: Flight International May 8, 2018)

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

Fed up with the luxury cruises and resorts being offered?

How about one of these sites for your next vacation?

A double decker bus.

A double decker bus in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset, which has been converted into an Airbnb property, offers three-bedroom accommodation for up to six – with a fully equipped kitchen. Two nights in May for two adults and two children costs £247. The loo on the double decker bus is pictured here. 

Check out UK: airbnb.co.uk/rooms/6579721

Or a prison perhaps.

Law-abiding citizens can experience what life is really like in jail in this one-of-a-kind prison-themed hotel. Penny Rope Bed Chamber in Margate, Kent, allows guests to pay for the pleasure of spending a night behind bars. The hotel has been built into the former cold store of a Grade II listed property in the town and costs as little as £75 per night. 

(Source: dailymail.co.uk)

Or even this place Medieval Scottish home.

Step inside this modern-day medieval home - a luxurious Scottish Highlands retreat that has been made using 500 bales of straw. The eco-friendly home, which sits on an elevated position in Strontian near Fort William, uses the bales of straw as its main form of insulation and exports five times more power than it imports.

The property, called Jill Strawbale House, gets most of its power from two micro hydro generators and guests are encouraged to recycle and only use public transport during their stay.

(Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-5595173)

The article in NetLetter #1388 in "Alan's Space" of the aircraft restaurant, prompted Najam Jafri to recall one in Jakarta and sends this information -

Regarding the abandoned 737 in Indonesia, I remember during my visit to Jakarta Indonesia that there is a beach called Enchle. I witnessed a 737 Boeing parked there and being used as restaurant. If I find the photo in my file will mail to you.

Regards, Najam Jafri.

(Alan researched with Google and located this name and here is a photo.)

Taman Santap Rumah Kayu Ancol, North Jakarta.

For the location follow This Link

For photos of the aircraft follow This Link

How about a retired airliner?

Welcome to JumboStay. 

Travelers staying overnight at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm can sleep at the Jumbo Stay Hotel, that, as its name implies, is set in an old Boeing 747 that has been given a new role in the hospitality industry. 

Here is a photo of the B747 hotel at Stockholm.

Jumbo Stay; Jumbovägen 4; 190 47 Stockholm Arlanda
Tel: +46 8-593 604 00 | Fax: +46 8-593 604 11

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

(Source: jumbostay.com)

Here is one in China.

A restaurant converted from a B737 passenger plane is parked on Guanggu Walking Street.

A retired Boeing 737 has been transformed into a Western-style dining space in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. A Boeing 737 plane can typically carry 128 passengers while the restaurant can accommodate 70 guests at a time. In keeping with the aeroplane theme, waitresses were selected according to airline standards. Males need to be taller than 5 ft. 7 in. and females need to be taller than 5 ft. 4 in.

(Source: dailymail.co.uk)

There is even this one in India

Aeroplane turns restaurant! Runway 1 serves multi-cuisine food at NH-1 on Ambala-Kurukshetra stretch.

A retired passenger plane has found a new life as a restaurant in the northern Indian city of Ludhiana in Punjab. Hawai Adda is 72-seater restaurant. It is made out of a junk Airbus A320 that once flew for Air India.

Parked just off the National Highway-1 on Ambala-Kurukshetra stretch which was turned into a restaurant. The customers need to collect a boarding pass from reception on the ground for meals.

(Source: www.financialexpress.com)

There used to be this one in Korea
Location: Suwon, Korea

This Boeing 747 plane-turned-restaurant was the second Boeing 747 ever made and the first to be flown commercially. Although the plane at one point served diners looking for an eclectic dinner experience, it now sits abandoned in front of several apartment buildings.

(Source: dailymail.co.uk)

An old prop liner

DC-6 Diner, Coventry Airport West, UK

The plane, which is almost 60 years old, was built to fly 92 passengers in comfort across the Atlantic, before being converted to carry cargo, which included transporting racehorses. Now a 40-seater restaurant, it has an aviation-themed menu including an 8oz Rapide, Vampire gammon steak, Bomber T-bone steak and a Meteor marinade fillet. Punters can also have a look at the original cockpit to see what the plane was like when it was flying. Waiters can be called to tables using the original call buttons that would summon stewardesses.

Note from Ken Pickford - It's only 4 months short of age 60, delivered September 1958 to original operator Civil Air Transport of Taiwan, 4 months after first flight of the DC-8. It was one of the last 10 or so Douglas piston-engine airliners built.

(Source: dailymail.co.uk)

Another old prop liner here -

Next to Zurich airport, an old Soviet-made Ilyushin IL-14 takes center stage at aviation-themed restaurant Runway 34.  (Source: Runway34.ch)