Established: 1937
Country: Canada
Number of aircraft: 240
Number of staff: 22815
Number of destinations: 146
Internet-Address: www.aircanada.ca
Air Canada began life as Trans-Canada Air Lines Ltd. (TCA), the flag carrier for the Dominion of Canada. At this time the operator's shareholder was Canadian National Railways, an organisation wholly owned by the government of Canada. The airline flew its first scheduled service on 1. September 1937 using a Lockheed 10A Electra on the route between Vancouver and Seattle. In the following March the operator added its first mail service, in this instance between Vancouver and Winnipeg, and on 1. April 1939 flew its first coast-to-coast service between Seattle and Montreal with intermeditate halts at Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa.
TCA began a transatlantic service on 22. July 1943 between Montreal and Prestwick with modified Avro Lancaster bombers, an altogether superior capability being offered by the Canadair DC-4M that flew its first service between Montreal and London on 15. April 1947. The avability of this new type helped the airline to enlarge its route network, and this sson extended south to destinations such as Florida and Mexico.
The airline's next milestone was the introduction of the Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation, which operated its first service across the Atlantic on 14. May 1954, and on 1. April 1955 TCA became the first airline in the Americas to operate the turboprop-powered Vickers Viscount 724, which entered service on the route linking Montreal and Winnipeg. The first pure-jet airliner used by TCA was the Douglas DC-8-43, of which the first was delivered on 7. February 1960 for a service debut on 1. April of the same year on the Montreal to Vancouver service. Two month later the route between Montreal and London was added.
In 1964 TCA adopted the title of Air Canada together with a new livery. After various modifications, was redesigned in 1994 to the current scheme. On 11. February 1971 Air Canada took delivery of its first wide-bodied airliner form of a Boeing 747-133 and, together with the Lockheed L-1011 TriStars that were delivered from 14. January 1973 and Douglas DC-8-63, this "jumbo jet" type operated the airline's long-haul routes into the early -1980s, when the first of Air Canada's Airbus Airbus wide-body and Boeing 767 airliners were delivered.
Under the terms of the Air Canada Act of 1977 the airline became a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of the Canadian government, but has been completly privatised since July 1989. Trough its domestic Connector Partners, another 54 communities and destinations in Canada and the USA are linked to Air Canada network. Together with its regional airlines Air Canada now offers services to over 120 destinations, including 90 cities in North America, 8 cities in Europe, 11 points in the Caribbean, and a number of destinations in Asia.
Stearman: 1937-1939
Lockheed 10A Electra: 1937-1941
Lockheed Super Electra 14H2: 1938-1949
Lockheed Lodestar 1808A: 1941-1949
Lancastrian: 1943-1947
Douglas DC-3: 1945-1963
Canadair North Star DC-4M2: 1946-1961
Bristol 31 Freighter: 1953-1955
Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation: 1954-1963
Vickers Viscount 724: 1955-1974
Douglas DC-8: 1960-1994
Vickers Vanguard: 1961-1972
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar: 1973-1996
Boeing 727-200: 1974-1992
Airbus A319-100
Aircraft in Fleet: 35
Total pass.: 112
Cruise speed: 837 km/h
Range: 4442 km
Max. start weight: 64 tons
Height: 11.8 m
Wingspan: 32.1 m
Length of aircraft: 33.8 m
Airbus A320-200
Aircraft in Fleet: 34
Total pass.: 132
Cruise speed: 837 km/h
Range: 4442 km
Max. start weight: 75.5 tons
Height: 11.8 m
Wingspan: 34.1 m
Length of aircraft: 37.6 m
Airbus A340-300
Aircraft in Fleet: 8
Total pass.: 284
Cruise speed: 869 km/h
Range: 12493 km
Max. start weight: 161 tons
Height: 16.8 m
Wingspan: 60.3 m
Length of aircraft: 63.7 m
Raytheon Beech 1900D
Aircraft in Fleet: 5
Total pass.: 18
Cruise speed: 531 km/h
Range: 925 km
Max. start weight: 7.69 tons
Height: 4.5 m
Wingspan: 17.7 m
Length of aircraft: 17.7 m
Boeing 747-400 Combi (picture is a 747-200C that is out of service)
Aircraft in Fleet: 3
Total pass.: 401/265/296
Cruise speed: 893/893/917 km/h
Range: 7588/10179/10734 km
Max. start weight: 391.5 tons
Height: 19.3 m
Wingspan: 59.6/59.6/64.4 m
Length of aircraft: 68.6 m
Boeing 767-200/200ER (picture is a 767-200)
Aircraft in Fleet: 12/11
Total pass.: 191/177
Cruise speed: 853 km/h
Range: 5367/9253 km
Max. start weight: 179.2 tons
Height: 15.8 m
Wingspan: 47.6 m
Length of aircraft: 48.5 m
Boeing 767-300ER
Aircraft in Fleet: 6
Total pass.: 203
Cruise speed: 853 km/h
Range: 10549 km
Max. start weight: 156.5 tons
Height: 15.8 m
Wingspan: 47.6 m
Length of aircraft: 54.9 m
British Aerospace 146-200
Aircraft in Fleet: 10
Total pass.: 77
Cruise speed: 708 km/h
Range: 2406 km
Max. start weight: 46 tons
Height: 8.6 m
Wingspan: 26.3 m
Length of aircraft: 28.5 m
Canadair CL-65 Regional Jet
Aircraft in Fleet: 24
Total pass.: 50
Cruise speed: 789 km/h
Range: 1574 km
Max. start weight: 21.52 tons
Height: 6.2 m
Wingspan: 21.3 m
Length of aircraft: 26.8 m
Bombardier DHC-8-100/300 (picture is a DHC-8-100)
Aircraft in Fleet: 52/12
Total pass.: 37/50
Cruise speed: 491/531 km/h
Range: 1295/1389 km
Max. start weight: 15.65 tons
Height: 7.5 m
Wingspan: 25.9/27.4 m
Length of aircraft: 22.3/25.7 m
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32
Aircraft in Fleet: 28
Total pass.: 91
Cruise speed: 789 km/h
Range: 2036 km
Max. start weight: 54.89 tons
Height: 8.4 m
Wingspan: 28.4 m
Length of aircraft: 36.3 m
Airbus A330-300: 10 orders
Airbus A340-300: 8 orders
Airbus A340-500: 2 options
Airbus A340-600: 3 options