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Vesta's Jump Seat
 Why not allow the NetLetter be your platform, and opportunity, to relive your history while working for either TCA, AC, CPAir, CAIL, PWA, AirBC etal. and share your experiences with us!IAC PRESIDENT VICKI CRUSE DIES IN CRASH Former U.S. Aerobatic Champion and Reno racing pilot Vicki Cruse died Saturday when her Edge 540 competition plane crashed at Silverstone race track in England. Saturday Aug 22nd was a training day for the World Aerobatic Championships, which run through Aug. 29 and Cruse was one of the members of the U.S. team. Witnesses told the Telegraph the aircraft "nosedived" into the ground and there was no hope for her survival. Cruse, 40, of Santa Paula, Calif., was president of the International Aerobatic Club which said in its tribute to Cruse that team manager Norm DeWitt said Cruse was flying the early-round "Q" program when she lost control of her Zivko Edge 540 aircraft by what appeared to be a mechanical problem in flight. She was at an altitude that prevented her from bailing out of the aircraft." |
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Air Canada - our first 70 years
 1945 - Great Lakes Survey Flight in anticipation of the Winnipeg - Toronto operation across the Great Lakes. |
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Air Canada News
 Air Canada has became the first North American airline to release an Apple iPhone/iPod touch application. The free App will make it convenient for travellers with Apple devices to retrieve electronic boarding passes, track flight information in real-time, receive notification of itinerary changes and obtain other details about Air Canada flights. Air Canada to launch non-stop service to Athens and Barcelona from Montreal and Toronto. non-stop seasonal services between June 3 and October 18, 2010. Our flights will be operated using 244-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. |
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TCA/AC People Gallery
 Over the past months we have been publishing various photographs from earlier "Horizons", should any photos prompt a memory in seeing one of them, feel free to send us your comments and thoughts.We continue to scan through some old editions of "Between Ourselves" donated by Norm Stoddart. We trust that you will find these articles interesting. (We realize these photos are more than 60 years old, but, we feel they may be of interest to anyone with long memories or with genealogy aspirations - eds) Issue dated April 1945  Here are the men of the Winnipeg engineering shop. Soon their responsibilities will include the overhaul of Rolls-Royce engines from the Trans-Atlantic service. Winnipeg is slated to become the system maintenance centre for four engined aircraft.(Sorry no id's available. eds) With the airline gearing up after the war, there is a need for more employees. Here we have three classes. STEWARDESSES.  Seated, left to right: Vivian Murdock, Monica Gillis, Mr. D. R. MacLaren (Superintendent of Passenger Service), Betty Herningson (Supervisor of Stewardesses) and Marg Brezenski (Stewardess Supervisor - Moncton). Standing: Julia Ondrus, Jean Robins, Fern Nickel, Marg McCuaig Mary Heffernan and Helen Dickie.TRAFFIC MEN:  Seated, left to right: Graeme Gibson, Al Godbold (Training Supervisor) and Lawrence Adams. Standing: Murray Law, Max Eagles, Jack MacLean, Ken Denman and Crawford Burns. All seven graduates were previously in the armed forces, and five of them had been with TCA prior to enlistment. PASSENGER AGENTS:  Seated, left to right: Martha Marsh, Gil Minorgan, Joan Griffith, Tommy Kirkham (Supervisor of passenger Agents) and Betty Thompson. Standing: Al Phillips, Don Philp, Jack Eaton, Doug Stewart, Doug Miller, Bob Pierce and Al Johnston. All eight men In the class had seen military service. One was previously with the Company. A rarity, we may be wrong, but we suspect that this is the first time that a major station has been photographed whole. Here, for TCA posterity, are recorded our Cape Breton personnel as at February, 1945.  Front row, left to right: Radio ops P. Majdanik, H. Harris, J. E. Robidoux; M. Atkinson, counter clerk; I. Bezanson, clerk-steno.; F. V. Morrison, passenger agent; R. W. Lockhart, Station Manager; C. F. Houlton, chief clerk; C. E. McCord, passenger agent; M. Topshee, teletypist; L. Parker, counter clerk; D. V. Dowling, agent-in-charge; R. H. Calder, passenger agent; and A. Goldman, customs inspector. Centre row: W. J. Tobin, collector-of-customs; J. Mullins, customs inspector; M. MacFarlane, immigration inspector; R. J. Murphy, immigration inspector; A. N. Steeves, cargo agent; Cargo handlers L. G. Doyle, and R. A. Steeves, Junior mechanics J. A. Dyer and F. A. Nevins ; H. D. Ball, mechanic; T. C. MacLean, immigration inspector-in-charge; G. W. Fitzsimmons, immigration inspector; and M. R. Roach, customs inspector. Back row: D. R. Walkinshaw, security control; J. Howley, Glace Bay Taxi; M. Howley, Glace Bay Taxi; C. McDonald, J. Cormier, S. Chiasson, J. A. McLean, M. O'Neil, L. Hilder all of Isle Royale Taxi; and W. Harper, security control.Issue dated May 1945 On March 26th, TCA took over hangar nr 2 at Winnipeg as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) presence terminated. Lethbridge TCARA held the first annual spring dance, other activities include a rifle club, bowling, a skating party during the winter months, a team in the local fast ball league, an annual picnic and annual golf tournament.  The Pat Bay(Victoria (YYJ) Administration Building. Also the only TCA trailer of its kind in captivity used for the transit of mail, express and passengers' baggage to Victoria, 18 miles away.  Our Island station staff. Left to right, Front: Jim McDonald, station manager; Olga Cravits, radio operator; and Harvey Currie, radio operator. Back: Mrs. Robbie Miller, radio operator; Gordie Campbell, mechanic; and Maude Wildman, radio operator. |
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Star Alliance news
 United Airlines moves to cash-free environment on trans-Atlantic, Brazil and Argentina flights.United Airlines announced that effective September 2, the airline will accept only credit and debit cards for most onboard purchases on trans-Atlantic flights and on flights to and from Brazil and Argentina. To speed cabin service, provide receipts and increase efficiency, cash will no longer be accepted onboard these flights, except for duty-free purchases |
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Alan's Space
 PRIZE FOR HUMAN-POWERED ROTARY FLIGHT RISES TO $250,000
Prizes have done much through the last 100 years or so to spur aviation innovation, from Lindbergh's Orteig Prize to today's X Prize competitions, but sometimes if the prize is not quite enticing enough, it doesn't really do the job. That seems to be what the folks at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. have decided, since they recently announced a dramatic change in the prize money for the Igor I. Sikorsky Human-Powered Helicopter Competition, from $20,000 to $250,000. The prize, which goes to the first human-powered helicopter that can hover at least 10 feet off the ground for 60 seconds, was first offered almost 30 years ago and has never been claimed. The best effort so far was by Prof. Akira Naito of Nihon University in Japan, who achieved an altitude of just over 6 inches and flight duration of 19.46 seconds. (Click through to see it on video.) A team at CalTech got into the air for 8 seconds at a height of 8 inches.  Click on image for video
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Canadi>n/CPAir/PWA, Wardair, etc. Events & People
 Over the past months we have been publishing various photographs from earlier in-house magazines, should any photos prompt a memory in seeing one of them, feel free to send us your comments and thoughts. Perusing the "INFO:CARGO" magazineIssue dated October 1992 The "Magnificent Seven". Celebrating the Toronto TSSC second birthday on September 23rd are these charter' members who were there to answer calls the first day two years ago.  From left. Darlene Cain, Suzanne Franzini, Carol Morson, Debbie Falconi, Tracey Hushy. Judy Reynolds. and Terry Skinner.Here we have photos of Julie Clarke and Tony Rolph of a couple of the Sydney Australia staff.   Issue dated July 1992  Here we have this photo of, from the left - Russ Worgan, Anne Metier, Doug Orvis and Noel McGivern who staffed the Canadian Airlines booth at the 5th Annual Aviation sub-contractors Exhibition.Issue dated May 1993 B737 aircraft fin # 703 and 742 have been converted to freighters, including a tail post to prevent the aircraft tipping back onto its APU during the loading and unloading sequence. A few "old-timers" from Nordair may recall their use on B737 operations in the Eastern Arctic. |
  Fred Coyle has sent us the latest info regarding the Super Constellation CF-TGE fin 405. Following the Old-Timer's Reunion, ex-TCA Super G Constellation CF-TGE was moved out of the EAC hangars for the last time and positioned on the ramp for dis-assembly and transport to Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington. View the following web site for a visual blow by blow account of the dismantling. http://www.rbogash.com/Connie/connie-RME-SEA.html Updates will be posted non-stop for the next two weeks - so check back often to see where we are.Fred Coyle also sent this email regarding the photo from "Between Ourselves" issued Midsummer 1944 which we printed in NetLetter nr 1084. Those are great old pictures! One of them shows a B. V, Wilcox on the right in Gander. I believe that is R. V. (Ralph) Wilcox. Ten years later in 1954 he was City Ticket Office Manager in Halifax. At that time I was at the airport in Shearwater where Dave Murdock was the Manager. I hadn't realized that Ralph had joined so early on! Warm regards, Fred Coyle Hello, my name is Alastair Thomson retired IFS manager YYZ, in this issue (NetLetter nr 1083) you published a photograph of "Bonnie lasses of Prestwick", at that very time I too was a passenger agent at PIK. The reason for my inquiry is to try to find the whereabouts of Gael Gray who is in the photograph, she and I were very good friends and when our daughter was born she left a beautiful teddy bear on the office counter for me to pick up, incidentally the bear nearly ended up on a BA flight to JFK due to a misunderstanding but all ended well, my daughter 41 years later still has the teddy bear and if I could find an email address for Gael I would love to send her a photograph of "Wendy" (teddybear) as she appears today. I realize this is a strange request but perhaps you might know who supplied the photograph. Thanking you in anticipation Alastair Thomson ( Shirlee (Lee) Schater sends us this. I wanted to share this news with people who I thought would appreciate it.  My sister, Gayle Graham, is now NUMBER ONE in Company Seniority in all of Canada for Customer Sales and Service Agents ! (don't know about in-flight, the ramp and the pilots !!................. She went into work this past Tues. the 25th of Aug. 2009 not expecting the Company to acknowledge her 45th Anniversary but she got a big surprise. Here's how she described it in her own words. quote: On Tue, 8/25/09, Gayle and Al < Shirlee............what a surprise I got today. I made myself a rose to pin to my uniform to celebrate my anniversary. I figured AC wouldn't remember my special day so I would congratulate myself. A half hour after I got to work, a manager was walking by and came over and gave me a big hug and a congratulations.........well I burst into tears because I wasn't expecting any recognition. A bit later they called me into the managers office and when I walked in there were about 30 managers and co-workers waiting for me..........well the tears started again.......and I actually told them I didn't think AC would acknowledge my 45 years. They said some nice things about me and gave me a beautiful plant and a card with 3 gift cards each for $30.00 for a bunch of different restaurants. I said they must know how much I love to eat !! I'm still shocked and really pleased that they acknowledged this special day......GG unquote Some employees at Toronto Airport gathered around her to congratulate her on reaching this milestone.  Back row: Jody James, CAW Vice Chairperson; Customer Service Managers Robert MacNeil, Ilana Menn, Andrea Vassell, and Melissa Lorbetskie; Sharon Leslie, Lead Customer Sales and Service Agent; Gilda Romanelli, G.M. Airport Operations - Eastern Canada; Sylvie Rainville, Manager, Operations; Mike Innis, Customer Service ManagerMiddle row: Eileen Fontaine, Customer Service Manager; Lucie Alessio, CAW Vice Chairperson; Oxana Vassilieva; Customer Sales and Service Agents Johanne McGrath and Lorrie Holden, Customer Sales and Service Agent; Kim Bertrand, A/Director, Customer Service and Hub Connection Product Front row holding flower arrangement: Gayle Graham, Customer Sales and Service Agent. Shirlee concludes by saying. Quite an accomplishment! - and - she's still on the employee payroll! I'm sure glad AC came through for her and right on the day - just like in the old days! (We, the NetLetter gang, offer our congratulations to Gayle - eds) |
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Terry's Trivia & Travel Tips
 Duty Free discount for employees. Next time you are flying on routes where Air Canada offers duty-free products for sale on board, don't forget that you are entitled to a 10% discount on already low priced duty-free purchases in-flight. Simply show your employee ID card to receive the discount, and pay with a credit cardSouthwest Airlines has unveiled EarlyBird Check-in, which allows passengers to board the aircraft prior to general check-in, but after Business Select customers and premium loyalty program members, for an extra $10 each way. SWA is known for its unreserved seating and for boarding passengers in groups. The EarlyBird service will be available up to 25 hr. prior to scheduled departure. Vancouver International Airport now has direct service from downtown Vancouver direct to and from the airport.The Canada Line operates every day of the week, and runs every 4-8 minutes during midday and weekday peak periods. Trains from Waterfront Station (downtown Vancouver) to YVR will run from 4:50 a.m. to 1:05 a.m. Trains from YVR to Waterfront Station will run from 5:10 a.m. to 12:57 a.m. Fares, not including concession or discount tickets: Between YVR - Waterfront Station (downtown Vancouver): ca$3.75 Here is the second segment of a tour of north and southern Ireland as a package tour with Trafalgar coach lines - here is the first segment - IRELAND TOUR May 2nd thru May 13th., 2009 Monday 4th The breakfast we had, a full breakfast, would be the same that would be offered at each of the hotels we will be staying at, consisting of self service -scrambled or fried or poached eggs, sausages, baked beans, back bacon, muffins, bread, toast, various canned fruits, various cereals, yoghurts, juices, tea, coffee and fresh fruit. During the morning we had a tour of Dublin, viewing St. Patrick's Cathedral, and driving past a row of brightly coloured front doors, no colour the same, the story goes that the colors were to enable the drunken husbands to locate their own homes each evening. We viewed Dublin castle and the Presidents residence in Phoenix Park and then a visit to Trinity College to visit the book of Kells and the library -very impressive. Unfortunately, there was not enough time for an in-depth browsing of the new exhibit for the book of Kells. The library had stand alone displays of rare books and biographies of various writers including C.K.Chesterton, Colin Doyle, James Joyce amongst others. We had time to visit the Kilkenny restaurant across the street from Trinity College for lunch. Tea for 2 at gbp3.25 and panini at gbp8.00. Our guide told us, in the early planning of Dublin and the building of protestant churches, the Catholic's were not allowed to build within the city, hence they built outside the city, but with the sprawling suburbia, those churches are now within the city. We then proceeded to visit the Jamison Distillery before leaving for Belfast. To keep long distance trucks out of the centre of Dublin, there is a 5 mile tunnel under the city, which is free for trucks, but for all other vehicles there is a toll to discourage its use by other than trucks. Enroute to Belfast, we pass over the Boyne River and the site of the famous battle, there is a new toll bridge. Euro1.90 per vehicle (ca$3.04) Lunch was at Newry. Upon our arrival at Belfast, we had a short bus tour before checking into our Stormont Hotel, one of the few hotels which supplied a face cloth. On our tour we saw several murals about the IRA troubles driving through the Falls Road and Shanklyn district.    Our Tour Manager, Bernard, related a story about George Bernard Shaw who was not too fond of the English, but he wrote to Winston Churchill and invited him to the opening night of his play, and to bring a friend, if he had one. Churchill replied that he was unable to attend, but would be happy to attend the next performance, if there was one. Supper was in the hotel at 19:30. Luggage outside the door at 07:00 in the morning, breakfast at 07:00 depart at 08:00. Tuesday May 5th Today is our 53rd wedding anniversary. We all assembled in the foyer behind a pile of our luggage, only to learn that the coach had suffered a flat tyre, and the driver (David) and Bernard were hustling around trying to locate a local garage with equipment to repair or replace the tyre. There was, apparently, a local feud as to who would perform this exercise much to the frustration of David and Bernard. However, an hour behind schedule, we loaded the luggage, boarded the coach and welcomed our local guide - Rosemary - who gave us a running commentary as we toured around Belfast. Pointing out the Wolfe & Harland shipyard where the Titanic was built - the saying goes that the Titanic ship #401 was OK when she left Belfast! We again saw the murals and graffiti relating to the "troubles". Also several police stations (Gardia) still with the 30 foot high wire net fencing to deter rocket attacks, and razor wire surrounding some schools. We also saw the new ice hockey arena, City Hall, Queens University and Stormont Castle. Our guide ended the tour next to the Opera House named Luciana Opera House after Luciana Paverotti who performed at the opening. We had an hour for lunch before driving off to Londonderry. I nipped off to the local Marks & Spencer to make some purchases, in the pouring rain, which had not stopped since we arrived in Ireland. After the lunch stop, we drove off to Londonderry via the Glens of Antrim and Ballycastle with our next stop at the Giants Causeway. It was still pouring rain and with a howling wind too.  When we stopped at the Causeway, some of the braver ones walked down to the stones, but we took the bus which operates for euro2.00 return (ca$3.20). The small theatre ran a movie relating the story of the giant who travelled across the stone causeway to Scotland to enjoy the favours of the local lord. Upon hearing this, the lord came across one night to confront the giant, who had hopped into bed with his mother nearby. When the lord saw the size of the "baby" he assumed the father to be much bigger, and returned to Scotland. Lunch at the Causeway is a National Trust. Tea at gbp1.55 ea and sandwich gbp2.95. Nearby, there was a rope bridge which fishermen linked to a small island to make fishing in the sea easier. In better weather visitors clamber across, but not today! We arrived at our Everglades Hotel at 17:30 with Highlight supper due at 19:00 in a local restaurant., during which I let slip that it was our anniversary, and most raised their drinks to us both. Londonderry has a museum dedicated to Amelia Earhart the famous aviatrix who landed nearby after pioneering a solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1932. Admission is free but, unfortunately, we were unable to visit. (More next time - eds) |