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Vesta's Corner
 Postcards  This week's postcard - The Moscow Kremlin Monomachus Cap, late 13th-earl.y 14th century. Easter Egg, dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Romanoff dynasty 1913 Carl Faberge jeweler, the state collection Hello Vesta.June 2001. We arrived at Moscow today, on an all night train ride, but we could not sleep on board. We are having a busy day but we are visiting many interesting sites. Moscow is quite different than St.Petersburg. Regards, JulioNote: for our new readers, I have been collecting postcards from our travelling NetLetter "family" for many years. If you are away and have a minute, I'd be delighted to get one from you as well. You can obtain my address by sending an email to |
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Still available!
 Cabin Fever Calendar - 2008The 2008 issue of "Cabin Fever - In the Wings" calendar is now available. "In the Wings" depicts the many roles that flight attendants play both on and off the aircraft. All proceeds are to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. Cost: $20.00 and includes postage. See: www.cabinfevercalendar.com |
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Found on the Internet
Air France has become the first airline in the world to offer an in-flight mobile phone service on international flights. Using to the Mobile OnAir system, passengers traveling on board one of the Airbus A318 aircraft operating European routes can now send and receive sms and mms messages and send and receive emails via all phones with Internet access. |
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Air Canada - the first 70 years
 1987
The "Prairie Milk Run" was abandoned in 1963 due to the inability of the airports at Brandon, Yorkton, Swift Current and Medicine Hat to accommodate Viscount aircraft, at that time, being the smallest aircraft in the fleet. |
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TCA/AC Events & People Gallery
The bygone days Terminals in 1947  Gander Goose Bay Porquois Junction Prestwick Ottawa in 1943 and Vancouver in 1950Newark Crew  Pictured at the check-in are left Walter Heckman AC Supervisor and Marjorie Robertson AC Customer Service Training Supervisor New York is 3rd from the left. The others are TWA employees who handled our check-in crew for the inaugural service Toronto - Newark. |
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Canadi>n/CPAir/PWA, Wardair, etc. Events & People
(This has been repeated due to an error in the last issue)  Pictured is Capt. Rawson who resigned from T.C.A. on March 30th 1953 as Director of Flight Development to take a position at Canadian Pacific Airlines as Director of Flight Operations. In NetLetter nr 997, we mentioned the Supersonic DC-8 - we have since unearthed the following info -  CF-CPG was sold to F.B.Ayer & Associates and flown from Vancouver to Opa-locka in Miami on March 17th 1980, and was immediately sold on to Concord International Airlines for spares and scrapped in May 1981. To commemorate the supersonic flight, a small plaque was fixed on the first class bulkhead, there is some doubt that the plaque survived - anyone have any clues of its whereabouts? |
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Remember When
The following events were researched by Andrew Geider archivist YVR (and gleaned from various "Contact" magazines loaned by Bill Wood)
 Memories, memories - retired M&E folk help maintain Archives. Under the guidance of Andrew Geider, corporate archivist. From left - Archie Stutt, Richard Arter, George Mitchell, George Lewis, Don O'Grady, Jan Vander Molen, Jim Blackmer, Dale Molestad. |
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Readers Feedback
"ShirLee Schacter" <Subject: Friends of Front Street Reunion Pictures Hi FoFS Member The pictures from the last FoFS Reunion Luncheon on November 17th, 2007, are now available for viewing on the FoFS Website: www.imageevent.com/fofs Just click on the 2007 picture to view the latest album. As you will see from that screen, the albums of the past events are also still accessible to you. From: Raymond Briand < CP/Wardair etc it is mention Capt Rawson leaving TCA but next to the picture is a mention (in the picture is Capt Rawlings which is correct ..........this is not to criticize just to keep facts straight many tks Ray Briand From: "Maxwell Church" - Correction please. The Photo of Capt.Rawlings is actually Capt. Barney Rawson who hired me as a pilot in 1941. (Our apologies to Capt. Rawson - eds) From the NetLetter team - In NetLetter nr 996 we recently had a report on the move of the Lockheed L14 CF-TCY from the Langley BC Air Park. The following pictures are from "Horizons" #716 issued December 1987 showing the move before that one.   From Trev Trower Here is a little tale of layovers in London. it is a chapter from my book "The Traveling Man" it was fun living it and writing it. Blue Angels When I think back on the first few years I worked for the airline, I find it hard to believe that twenty years could make such a difference. Naturally we expect technology to be transformed, and service to our customers to become more refined. In the fifties the customer was happy to get a cup of coffee in flight, and a cookie would be gratefully received. By the time the seventies had arrived. Fresh brewed coffee would be available on the shortest flights. Superb hot meals of several courses would be served in economy. Often filet mignon would be featured as the main course. On flights between Toronto and Montreal, with flying time less than an hour, we would serve dinner with a choice of menu, and a choice of wine. The cabin crew would literally run in the aisles to get the work done. I remember that flight attendants would carry four or more meal trays at a time to try to speed up the service. I remember seeing Monique Pellet carrying 12 trays back to the galley, stacked in her arms. The crew would congratulate themselves that the impossible had been performed once more. One of our airlines' most notorious critics and journalists would criticize the food by saying it was pre-chewed and overcooked. (99% of our passengers thought the food was great). We turned cartwheels to try to please everybody, not realizing that that was not possible. On long range flights we would have time to add a personal dimension to our service. We sometimes had time to spend with the customers, particularly young children, incapacitated people, mothers with babies, and first-flighters. This little extra care after a while earned for the company the reputation of being a "Kind" airline. We would go out of our way to treat the customers with every consideration. Taking little children to the cockpit to say hello to the pilots was a great delight for the child and the Flight Attendant. The layovers have always been one of the main attractions of the job although to many of us the actual caring for the customer was reward in itself. Salaries were very modest. Flight attendants were paid approximately the same as ground service personnel. Many Flight attendants work at second jobs which enables them to enjoy some of the luxuries we became used to during the course of our work. Most of us aimed to fly on the Caribbean routes or the North Atlantic, where not only were the layovers more exciting, but we were paid about 75 cents an hour extra. I think with some nostalgia, of the time I flew as a purser on the overseas routes and earned my 350$ a month while my friends were quite envious of me. Company employees were in the majority loyal and hard working. We quickly became friends. Crews tended to stick together when on layover. We would arrive at the layover Hotel exhausted and dehydrated. Time zone differences often meant we would be sleeping when the general population was awake. It was impossible to get used to this situation. In London, our crew "limousine" would come to the airplane and quickly get us through customs. I use the term limo though in fact for many years we were carried to and fro in an old converted Bedford truck, which I do not believe was equipped with springs. We would try to sleep during the one hour ride to the hotel. When every bump in the road is transferred to your spine it is impossible to get comfortable. But the drivers, Ken or Archie, or big Jim, were always thoughtful and sometimes would stop at a suitable watering hole for us to try to re-hydrate. Trev can be contacted at  Pictured is Trev in one of his finer moments from 1983.(More next time - eds) |
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Terry's Travel Tips
 Air Canada persuaded you to check yourself in and print your own boarding pass. Now the country's largest airline wants you to take care of your own bags.The same kiosks that spit out boarding passes have been reprogrammed to also print baggage tags as part of a trial project in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. By the end of 2008, pending approval from Transport Canada and various airport authorities, Air Canada's self-tagging option is scheduled to be unveiled in Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax. Passengers arriving at an airport would go to a kiosk and enter their booking reference number. After printing out boarding passes, consumers can press the screen to print tags and attach them to luggage handles. Once that's done, they walk over to the drop-off area and place their bags on the conveyor belt. (Don't forget to keep the stub to enable you to identify and claim your luggage when/if it turns up at your destination - eds) |