We have welcomed 60 new subscribers so far in 2023.

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!

Penticton Peach Festival is an annual South Okanagan Valley tradition, which began in 1947, to celebrate the peach harvest in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada.

This year's event is scheduled for  August 9 - 13, 2023 at Okanagan Lake Park. 

The Canadian Armed Forces Parachute Team, the SkyHawks, will be performing on August 9, 2023 at 18:00 showcasing their signature tricks and formations.

See PeachFest.com for festival details

See www.Canada.ca/en/army/corporate/SkyHawks for more info about the SkyHawks

Janice Harvey sent in the following -

"My father, John M. Wilton, was the TCA Manager in Lethbridge, Alberta from 1942-1960, and then Air Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia from 1961 until his retirement in early 1970 after 31 years of service. I have some old photos which I’d like to share or donate to aviation history, if possible."

This is the second pair of photos from the series began published in NetLetter #1504. 

Fort MacLeod Alberta - July 28 1948

My father and I outside the Trans-Canada Air Lines Marquis car (limo). 

The Marquis car had brought staff  & family from Lethbridge to Fort MacLeod for a picnic 

Lethbridge Air Show 1959 -

Left to right: my brother, our neighbour and myself standing on the TCA ramp to admire the huge Royal Canadian Air Force de Havilland Comet. It was a 'really big deal' as we had grown up with DC-3's.

Editors' Note: Aircraft in the photo is one of two de Havilland Comet 1 jets delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1953. Both aircraft were grounded in 1954 along with all other early Comets due structural issues that resulted in several BOAC Comet accidents.

The aircraft were ferried to the factory in 1956 for modifications and returned to RCAF service in late 1957. They were retired in 1963 and later scrapped.

Claire Bertrand sent in a photo of the cover of the 'Between Us' magazine from a veterans health centre in Ottawa.

Albert Martel had a distinguished career with the RCAF pilot during World War II before joining Trans-Canada Air Lines as a passenger agent.

Click the image below for the full story.

Extracted from the 'Horizons' magazine issued May 1973.

On the day that the rains came down, business went on as usual in Fredericton. Flood conditions virtually isolated the New Brunswick capital and the company's ticketing and administrative offices in the Lord Beaverbrook Hotel, extreme right, were closed for two weeks.

The photo insert shows passenger agents Margaret Kennedy, Carman Burns and Leonce Savoie at their temporary ticket office hastily set up in a drier part of the city.

Fascinating stories of Canadian women in the air.

AIR-CRAZY and AIR CRAZY TOO a pair of books by Elizabeth Muir.

When airplanes were first invented over 100 years ago, they were flown by men.

Women weren't even supposed to be passengers. But many 'air-crazy' women wanted to fly, and eventually they did - becoming pilots, stewardesses, flight instructors and astronauts.

Author and historian Elizabeth Muir tells stories about some of these courageous and determined women across Canada who contributed so much to Canadian aviation history (also available in French). 

These books can each be purchased for $12 (plus $6 shipping in Canada) from the Canadian Aviation Historical Society. 

Air Canada advert found on Pinterest.ca.

Introducing the DC-9 jet to Canadian skies.

Found in 'Horizons' magazine

Issue dated May 1973

Farewell Georgia.

As a mark of their esteem, Air Canada's London, UK sales team said adieu to industry colleague, Georgia Maclean of the Canadian Government Travel Bureau.

Travel promotion officer with the CGTB for some six years in London, Georgia now becomes the bureau's manager in Atlanta.

Shown at her informal farewell luncheon are, from the left: John Leach, Sales Rep; Tony Dunn, Office Manager; Peter Baldry, Sales Rep; Georgia Maclean; Barry Graystone, Sales Rep; Dave Dougans, Passenger Sales & Service Manager; Bill Williamson, Agency & Interline Rep and Norman Harrower, Tour & Group Sales Rep.

Right on schedule (and within budget), the newly renovated and enlarged ticket office In Place Ville Marie, Montreal was officially opened May 7, 1973.

In a brief ceremony attended by senior company officials, President Baldwin cut the ribbon to mark the occasion. With the exception of a small computer room, the entire area is open, lending an air of spaciousness to the office. The design was created and construction implemented by Facilities & Properties personnel.

In our photo lending moral support as President Baldwin cuts the ribbon are, from the left: Passenger Agents Francoise Vella, Sandra Lord, Claire Laterreur and Gaetanne Sabourin.

Signing up new members can be fun. In 1973, the newly revived Toronto Air Canada Recreation Association (ACRA) had recruited 1600 members over the past three months - part of the secret being at the right place at the right time with the right people.

Toronto employees are, from the left: Joe Zammitt, Anna Cilic, Carol Kiessner and Gwen Campbell.

Registration CF-CPK has been used several times by Canadian Pacific Air Lines - 

• Lockheed Lodestar 18-56 - fin #266 - c/n 2534 (pictured below) built 1943 delivered to CP from USAAF on July 29, 1943 sold to Canada Packers of Toronto on September 22, 1950.
• B-727-17 - c/n 20328 - fin # 722 delivered to CP Air on April 20, 1970 sold to National Air Lease May 24, 1977. Finally with TAME Ecuador as HC-BLV since April 26, 1985 and now stored.
• DC-8-43 c/n 45761 fin# 606 (Empress of Edmonton / Hong Kong) delivered to CP Air on October 14, 1965. Written off at Tokyo March 4, 1966. 

Source:

Canadian Pacific Air Lines - Its History and Aircraft - by D. M. Bain

From the "InfoCanadi>n" magazine.

Issue dated June 1990

Here we have a photo of Tim Walker, G.M. Thailand & Southeast Asia and his Bangkok staff wishing Canada a Happy Birthday.

Restoring former glory by Gord Cannam, retired, Canadian Airlines.

When I first saw the remains of CF-ATZ in December 1983, it was piled in a heap in a small room of the Edmonton Flying Club Hangar. Seven years later, a group of mostly volunteers had restored the plane to its original glory.

CF-ATZ went into service in 1933 with Canadian Airways and did much in the exploration and development of the North. In September 1949, operated by North West Territorial Air
Service, CF-ATZ was damaged beyond repair at Lake Aristofats (110 miles east of Yellowknife).

An attempt to remove the aircraft from the lake bottom only resulted in further damage and it sat on the lake's shore for the next 32 years (until September 1981). It was in very sad condition.

In January 1984, the remains were moved from the Edmonton Flying Club hangar to the city's Pacific Western Airlines PWA No. 13 hangar and the restoration process commenced immediately.

It was necessary to remanufacture the wings as they were an all-wood construction. The wing spars, ribs, etc., were either broken in the original accident or deteriorated in the 32 years of weather. The fuselage of steel tubular construction was broken into three different heaps.

After more than six years of restoration, some 14,000 hours of volunteer labor, aircraft CF-ATZ is completed and appears in same colours as in 1933 when it went into service with Canadian Airways Ltd.. Restoration was largely by PWA retirees, most notably Jim Brown, Ted Kopyn, Shorty Jeungal and Gord Cannam.

Retirees restore 1933 aircraft.

Celebrating the restoration of the 1933 CF-ATZ Fairchild 71 C in Edmonton were, front left, Vern Simmons, retired Canadian employee, Mickey Sutherland, original air engineer of ATZ, and Captain Joe McGoldrick, base manager, flying, Edmonton/Winnipeg.

Time Air Historical Society looks to bring rare, historic Canadian aircraft home.

A small team of enthusiasts is devoting it’s time to a unique cause: finding, dismantling, and relocating vintage planes.

But the relics they seek to preserve aren’t just any aircraft; the passionate crew have their eye on a specific era in Canada’s commercial aviation history.

Rik Barry is the chairman of the Time Air Historical Society (TAHS), which he launched in 2018. Today, Barry and his self-elected board have obtained four (long-since) retired aircraft with a dream of bringing them “home” to Lethbridge, Alberta – the birthplace of Time Air.

The story of Time Air

Founded by Walter “Stubb” Ross, an Alberta- based entrepreneur and aviation pioneer, Time Air operated for almost three decades (1966 – 1993) out of Western Canada. The airline was known as Lethbridge Air Service before becoming Time Airways in 1969. According to TAHS, the commuter airline began with “Stubb” Ross transporting passengers with personal aircraft, which evolved into a more significant operation when Air Canada discontinued its service out of Lethbridge Airport (YQL) in 1971.

Time Air operated a variety of aircraft, from the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, to the Short SD-330, to the Fairchild F-27 turboprop, to DHC Dash 7 and Dash 8 aircraft. Fast forward to 1993, Time Air merged with Ontario Express to create Canadian Regional Airlines — which eventually merged with Air Canada Jazz in the early 2000s. 

Follow the report by Natasha McKenty in the Skies magazine.

Source: Skiesmag.com

Our video comes from the JetFlix YouTube channel. Videographer Henry Tenby visited the Air Canada Museum and had a guided tour with retiring Air Canada photographer, Brian Losito.

From the MAQ - Express newsletter by the
Musee de l'aerospatiale du Québec. 

Issued dated December 2020

Air Creebec and Air Inuit
photos by Pierre Gillard during 2020.

Issue dated December 2021

Beechcraft 1900D - C-GTMB c/n UE-345 of Air Labrador at Québec City on June 12, 2007. It had come in for Maintenance at Exeltech Aerospace. 

Photo by Pierre Gillard.

Founded in 1948, Air Labrador commenced operations as Newfoundland Airways, ceased operations in June 2017 and merged with Innu Mikun Airlines to form Air Borealis.

Besides the Beechcraft 1900D, Air Labrador had also operated the Beechcraft King Air, Cessna 208 Caravan, DHC-6 Twin Otter, DHC-8 as well as Short SD.330 and SD.360.

China's 'Big Three' Airlines

It is always fascinating to look back at events of the past to see how they have shaped our modern world. Those of us whose careers have been in aviation will always remember the beginnings of airline deregulation in the early 1980's and the effects on our careers through that decade and into the 2000's. 

Privatization, mergers, restructuring, alliances and bankruptcies almost seemed to be a part of our daily lives. 

During this period, the world's most populous country's aviation market also went through its own deregulation and the break up of an airline monopoly. 

The People's Aviation Company of China was the airline division of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1952 and held a monopoly until the late 1980's when it was broken up and initially divided into six regionally based airlines to encourage a free market approach to the industry and availability to the general population. 

• Air China, the flag carrier, based in Beijing, inherited the IATA and ICAO airline codes of CAAC.
• China Southwest Airlines, based in Chengdu (merged into Air China in 2002).
• China Eastern Airlines, based in Shanghai.
• China Northwest Airlines, based in Xi'an (merged into China Eastern in 2002).
• China Southern Airlines, based in Guangzhou.
• China Northern Airlines, based in Shenyang (merged into China Southern in 2003).

Today the 'Big Three' consist of Air China (fleet of 490), China Eastern (fleet of 617) and China Southern (fleet of 653). A combined fleet of 1760 (as of this writing). Had the monopoly not been broken up, there is no doubt that it would now be the world's largest airline in fleet size. 

It's hard to say if there is actually full deregulation within China but each airline does seem to have its unique brand and alliances. 

Air China is a member of Star Alliance and is the primary international carrier.

China Eastern and China Southern are members of the SkyTeam alliance and have a codeshare agreement with WestJet. 

China Southern also has a limited codeshare agreement with Air Canada.

A fourth airline of considerable size (fleet of 217), Hainan Airlines is based in Haikou in Hainan Province and was established in October 1989. It had not been a part of the original airline monopoly.

References:

SimpleFlying.com/china-big-three-airlines-origin-story

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAAC_Airlines 

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

Some interline priced cruises from PERX Interline Vacations.

• April 22, 2023. 7-night Mediterranean.
  • Azamara Onward - Monte Carlo to Civitavecchia. Balcony from $840.
• May 28, 2023. 12-night Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific.
  • Carnival Splendor - Sydney Round-Trip. Balcony from $619.
• June 17, 2023. 7-night Mediterranean.
  • Enchanted Princess - Barcelona to Civitavecchia. Balcony from $767.
• July 7 2023. 10-night Alaska.
  • Queen Elizabeth - Vancouver Round-Trip. Balcony from $899.

Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum

Iconic aviator, aviation record-setter, and author Amelia Earhart is celebrated in her hometown of Atchison, Kansas with a birthplace museum, life-size statues, an annual festival, and a one-acre earthwork portrait. 

But starting on April 14, 2023, another major Earhart attraction lands in Atchison: the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum located, appropriately enough, at  Atchison’s Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport.

The centerpiece and inspiration for the museum is Muriel, among the world’s last remaining Lockheed Electra 10-E airplanes. Named for Amelia Earhart’s younger sister, Grace Muriel, the museum’s Lockheed Electra is identical to the plane Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan were flying in 1937 when they disappeared during their ill-fated around the world flight attempt.

Earhart’s plane was a dull silver with red painted highlights and the shiny Muriel replicates the red along the front of the wings.

Check this web site for the full story: www.runwaygirlnetwork.com

Issue dated November 1987

This  caricature by Ken Biggers pokes fun at fellow stock keeper Tommy Whalen whose job it was to collect and sort uniform laundry for YYZ maintenance.