We have welcomed 33 new subscribers so far in 2024.

We wish to thank everyone for the continuing support of our efforts.

Back issues of The NetLetter are available in both the original newsletter format and downloadable PDF format.

We invite you to visit our website at www.thenetletter.net/netletters to view our archives.

Restoration and posting of archive issues is an ongoing project. We hope to post every issue back to the beginning in 1995.

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.

Please feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We will try to post your comments in the next issue but, if not, we will publish it as soon as we can.

Thanks!

Submitted by photographer Gary Vincent -

(NetLetter #1526 - Wayne's Wings)

A late correction for your excellent CP Air Attaché article. Of the five B-737-300's delivered to CP Air, only two were in the grey Attaché colours.

The first 737-317 (C-FCPG) was delivered in CP Air orange. The next two (C-FCPI & C-FCPJ) had the Attaché colors and the last two (C-FCPK & C-FCPL) were in blue Canadian Pacific Airlines colours. Someone else has probably already told you this, but I wanted to dig and find a photo of one of the last two aircraft..... that took a little while.

C-FCPK at YYZ - September 1986

Submitted by Lady Michelle Wall -

(NetLetter 1527 - Women in Aviation)

I was delighted to see this (and other) articles about Judy Cameron.

I met her in high school when she took me under her wing during track and field part of our PE classes (only part of PE I enjoyed and was any good at).

She was a year older but our school had recently switched to a semester system so I got to be with the older kids for many of my classes. Even got to go to their grad as they had a shortage of girls.

She was a really decent person with a lot of the traits that would serve her well when she discovered her calling. I'd heard that she went on to become a ground-breaking pilot but didn't know her married name.

When Kits High (Kitsilano, Vancouver) had its 100th anniversary, it was the only school reunion I went to. My cousin and sister also went with me...and Brian as my guest since he had dropped out of school and gone to work on his 15th birthday.

Didn't see any of my classmates but ran into a few from my sister's era and class ahead of me that I knew. We were quite miffed that school featured the likes of actor Ryan Reynolds and DJ Jolly John Tanner in their 'successful grads' feature, but completely failed to include Judy (Evans) or Juliette Sysak Cavazzi - who were groundbreakers for women and Canadians at that time.

Bob Sheppard reminded us of this photo taken some time during the amalgamation of Air Canada and Canadian Airlines in the early 2000's.

Canadian had a heavy maintenance service contract with America West Airlines that continued during the transition of the YVR Ops Centre.

Wayne Albertson remembers working as a Material Logistics Coordinator in the hangar at the time.

NetLetter editor, Terry Baker, remembers that from 1987 through to 2000, the retirees used to receive an annual notice of an ad hoc increase in our pensions; indexed during this time period.

Regrettably, indexing was discontinued during CCAA negotiations that were to follow.

Click the image for full view.

In NetLetter #654 issued January 2002, there were several articles from readers regarding the DC-9.

In recent NetLetters we had information on the DC-9, so we dug through some of the responses resulting from the NetLetter 654 articles -

Here is one from Bill Norberg -

The recent wave of nostalgia surrounding the DC-9 fleet has freshened many memories of my experiences with that fleet. No doubt many people have written you about their experiences. Notwithstanding that I will add one more if you don't mind.

I remember so well many of the events on the choice of the DC-9 as a replacement aircraft for the dear old Viscount. As wonderful as the Viscount was in some ways, the DC-9 left it behind in a trail of dust.

I was in a meeting in the Engineering and Maintenance conference room dealing with some aspects of the selection when Gene Vermander entered the room to say that President Kennedy had been shot and killed. I always associate the DC-9 selection with that fateful day.

There were a number of aircraft considered along with the DC-9 when the selection was made. The British Aircraft Corporation BAC-111 was being pushed very hard by BAC as was the Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle as it would no doubt give work to the Canadair plant in Montreal. Also it was a French design which gave it appeal in some areas.

We had been through the Viscount era with its maintenance problems to be followed by the dear old Vanguard. In Maintenance we had just about had enough of BAC and wanted to select an aircraft type that considered the maintenance aspect to a greater extent.

Whenever we brought up the problems with BAC aircraft, Sir George Edwards who was the Managing Director of BAC had a standard answer..."We will put it right". Many of us had enough of the concept of why use 4 bolts when 8 will do, approach to life.

Sir George Edwards fought hard to have the BAC-111 selected but to no avail. Douglas aircraft who had always built a reliable aircraft got the message and the concept of "Maintainability" was a key plank in their development and sales program. Interestingly also, the man in Douglas who headed up the "Maintainability" program was no other than A. M. Sutherland, or better known to us as Mickey Sutherland.

Mickey Sutherland had headed up the Trans-Canada Air Lines Maintenance Department while Jim Bain was away at Canadair building the North Stars. When Jim came back on the job Mickey suddenly left to work for Slick Airways in the USA. He was a wonderful person and well liked. It was great to work with him again.

Shortly after the selection was made to purchase the DC-9's, BAC had a very sad incident with one of their BAC-111's on a test flight. It went into what is known as a deep stall and the flight crew were unable to get it out of the stall. All on board perished, including a number of their design team.

As a result of this incident, the design of T-tails on aircraft was changed and stall testing could only be done with a drogue chute in place to snap the aircraft out of the stall should it ever occur. We made the right decision.

Regards,

Bill Norberg. (Sadly, Bill is no longer with us.)

Women Account For 12 Percent of New Canadian Pilots. 

A total of 12% of new pilot licenses issued in Canada in 2023 went to women, according to statistics released by the Institute for Women of Aviation Worldwide, iWOAW.

The Montreal-based organization said 13% of new recreational-oriented licenses, 12.3% of commercial tickets and 8.1% of airline transport permits went to women.

Women have historically represented about 6% to 7% of pilots, but groups including iWOAW have been active in the last decade promoting aviation as a career for women and the needle is starting to move, the organization noted.

iWOAW is making preparations for its annual campaign to introduce women and girls to aviation. This is the 15th anniversary of the Fly It Forward Challenge in which pilots donate their time and aircraft to give free flights to girls and women who have never flown in a small aircraft.

There are also information booths with female role models at many of the events. The organization said that it has flown 22,403 Canadian females in the last 15 years and “the tangible impact of the initiative is uplifting.”

This year’s events are planned for March 4-10, 2024.

Source: AVWeb.com 

Air Canada Announces Scholarships for Aspiring Aircraft Maintenance Engineers at 7 Technical Colleges Across the Country

Air Canada today has announced an agreement with seven colleges across the country to provide financial assistance to students who self-identify as women or visible minorities who are pursuing studies as Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs). This new scholarship strengthens Air Canada's commitment to supporting access for under-represented students in this highly desirable career path.

One student from each school will receive a $1,500 scholarship to assist with the cost of their education to become AMEs. Students who are awarded a scholarship will be offered an opportunity for a work placement at Air Canada Maintenance. The initial agreement with the schools is for three years.

Found in 'Horizons' magazine

Issue dated June 1993

The butt stops here.

The team at the Finishing Shop knows everything there is to know about our aircraft seats.

Making an impromptu quality control check on their handiwork are:

Left side, back row: Mechanics Jean Beaudry, Charly Côté, and Chris Tandon. 

Middle row: Jacques Gagné, Mechanic; Robert Hébert, Cleaner and Claude Patenaude, Mechanic.

Front row:  Mechanics Luc Lemieux and René Boucher.

Right side, back row: John Hatherall, Mechanic; Stan Dair, Acting Chief Planner; Dale Anderson, Mechanic and Leslie Gervais, Cleaner.

Second last row: Mechanics Yves Dusseault, Sylvain Duquette and Jean-Pierre Jalbert.

Middle row: Roger Duguay, Shop Inspector; Lead Mechanics Marcel Léonard and Gunter Stuebs.

Front row: Mechanics Sean Hunchberger and Réjean Latour with Foreman Claude Pilon.

Photo by Brian Losito

Seat facts:

• Air Canada has an inventory of more than 16,000 airline seats, 1,200 of them currently in storage.
• Air Canada was the first airline in North America to equip its aircraft with fireblock seats in 1986.
• The average lifespan of a seat-back cushion is five years. Seat-bottom cushions are usually replaced every three years.
• Air Canada changes its fabric style every five years.
• Air Canada's First Class seats offer 60 inches of pitch (the distance between an identical point on two seats). Executive Class seats offer 45 inches of pitch on international flights and 38 inches of pitch on domestic flights, while Hospitality Class seats offer 30 - 34 inches of pitch.

Toronto Ramp personnel from the YYZ Ramp Rats Facebook page.

From 'CP Air News'

Issue dated December 1977

CP Air safe guards -

Calgary cargo sales and service supervisor John Townsend (left) and cargo agents Jeff Platt (centre), with Doug Redpath taking a short break on an antique Canadian Pacific safe during the move from the old cargo facility to the new $127 million cargo and terminal quarters at Calgary International airport.

More than 40 CP Air passenger, cargo and maintenance personnel were involved in the day-long move.

Source: CP Air News December 1977

From the "InfoCanadi>n" magazine.

Issue dated March / April 1996

Talking of business in Nagoya are (left to right):

Front row Service Agents Kumiko Murata, Michiki Oku and Chiemi Ishizaki.

Back row: Seiichi Tanaka, Cargo Sales and Service Representative; Yasuko Okada, Sales and Service Representative; Hiro Tsuzaki, Manager, Western Japan; and Natsuo Sakakibara, Sales and Service Representative.

Canadian was operating 22 flights a week to Japan, where the airline employed at total of 95 employees.

Our video comes from the 'Histories of Airlines' YouTube channel entitled, 'Where are the retired and preserved Boeing 707s?'

Two of the aircraft described in the video had served with Wardair & Pacific Western.

Click the images to view the video.

Click the registration text for the aircraft lifecycle at rzjets.net

Wardair CF-ZYP (W. R. 'Wop' May)

Pacific Western CF-PWV 

Holy Grail of Avro Arrow recreation efforts found in Prince Edward County

Excerpt from article by Jason Parks, Staff Writer, Picton Gazette

Imagine a sun-soaked summer day sometime in the near future in Prince Edward County.

An aircraft with an iconic Delta wing design banks low from the north and travels across local skies, almost demanding every set of eyes take notice. After departing from the Macdonald-Cartier Airport in Ottawa, this short trip involves a fly over of the area where its state-of-the-art wing was tested at Point Petre.

Delighting bathers at southern tip of Prince Edward County with a couple of passes, the jet roars its engine with a low level flight over Picton before returning to its home hangar in North Bay.

There have been dreams of resurrecting and constructing a replica Avro Arrow that would delight the Canadian public at air shows and recapture some of the glory erased when the project to build this aircraft well before its time was cancelled.

Thanks to a discovery (or rediscovery) at a home in Prince Edward County, those dreams are closer to reality today. 

Cameron Price of the Arrow 206 group shows off a Avro blueprint of the iconic Arrow aircraft located in Picton in the collection of late Avro employee William Calver.

C-FDSN - The 'Raptor' aircraft 

The most stylish and recognizable special livery I have ever seen on on an Air Canada aircraft has to be the 'Raptor' aircraft.

Registration C-FDSN (fin #206) was originally delivered in November 1990 during the 'burgundy stripe' period. It was re-painted in the special colours in a deal to promote the Toronto Raptors in 1995.

Air Canada then purchased naming rights (for 20 years) to the new all purpose arena in downtown Toronto in 1998 and the Raptors moved in 1999.

Note: The Air Canada Centre was renamed Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018. 

Fin #206 flew in the special livery until 2000 when it was re-painted in the standard livery of the time (www.jetphotos.com/photo/438839).

Its entire 30-year career was with Air Canada. It has been stored at Greenwood–Leflore Airport in Mississippi since November 2020.

Original livery - Photo courtesy of Steve Aubury

February 25, 1991 at Calgary

Photo by Caribb

August 2000 at Montreal

Photo by Aeroprints

June 23, 2012 at Los Angeles

Photo by Venkat Mangudi 

January 17, 2016 at Miami

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

The Airport Improvement Tax at Victoria International Airport (YYJ) will increase from $15.00 to $25.00 for travel from May 1, 2024.

Some interline deals from Gordon Froese - Interline Since 1976!
Tel: (888) 768-6777 Ext. 321 

• 7 Days Rhine River
• Ama Waterways - Ama Lucia
• Itinerary Description:
• Basel, Breisach am Rhein, Strasbourg, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Rudesheim am Rhein, Rhine Gorge, Lahnstein, Dusseldorf, Amsterdam
• 2 departure dates: March 3 and 17, 2024
• Prices from: Oceanview - $1499, Balcony - $1899

• 7 Days Danube River
• Ama Waterways - Ama Lea
• Itinerary Description:
• Vilshofen, Passau, Linz, Weissenkirchen in der Wachau, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest
• 1 departure date: March 09, 2024
• Prices from: Oceanview - $1499, Balcony - $1899
• Royal Caribbean Cruise Line - Quantum of the Seas

• 7 Days Alaska - North / Sound Bound
• Vancouver, Ketchikan, Sitka, Endicott Arm, Juneau, Victoria/Canada, Seattle
• 1 departure date: April 29, 2024
• Prices from: Inside - $388, Oceanview - $516, Balcony - $623, Suite - $2,356

Here we have another cartoon by Dave Mathias which appeared in the 'Horizons' magazine issued June 1980.