Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

• 1994 - October - First introduced the CL-65 on the Ottawa - Newark route.
• 1996 - June 2 - NWT Air introduce service between Whitehorse and Vancouver with B-737 combi.
  • Duane Clark, NWT Air's Director Commercial Operations, proudly shows off the "Yukon" to one of the many visitors prior to its launch.

• 1996  - May 14 - Lamar Durrett appointed President and CEO. at the Annual General Meeting.
  • May 14 - Inaugural service between Montreal and Brussels, Belgium.
  • April 15 - Inaugural service between Toronto and Nashville, Tennessee.
  • June 1 - New Rapidair service between Calgary and Edmonton with CL-65 equipment.
  • August 5 - Service between Toronto and Kansas City started.
• 1997- April - International flights were transferred from Mirabel (YMX) to Dorval (YUL).

A few of the Ramp and Cargo employees in Edmonton got together to wish Lead Station Attendant, Eugene Chomlak, a happy retirement after more than 23 years of service.

Back row left to right: Station Attendants Randy Ries and Brent Bates; Lead Station Attendants Ken Guthrie and Ron Boa; Station Attendants John Christensen, Randy Demskie, Ken Gummer, Paul Baker, John VanRaamsdonk and Borden Mytrunec; Layne McDougall, Acting Customer Service Manager and Ron Stroud, Station Attendant.

Front row, left to right: Station Attendants Harry Henke and Kevin Briand and the guest of honour Eugene Chomlak (seated).

The new look is almost here!

Our models were all smiles as they got to try on Air Canada's new uniform, featuring the beautiful 'blue spruce' colour of Canada's forests. Cutover was planned for January 1996.

From left to right: Benoit Gautier, Captain DC-9 (Montreal); Katherine Reed, In Charge (Halifax) Air Nova; Michael Allen, Customer Sales & Service Agent (Dawson Creek) AirBC; Karin Guay, Mechanic (Dorval); Fred Wright, Station Attendant (Halifax); Sherrie Edmonds, Flight Attendant (Toronto); Maryanne de Souza, Customer Sales & Service Agent (Ottawa); Doug Smith, Mechanic (Toronto); Joyce Beaudoin, Customer Sales & Service Agent (Dorval); Judy Cameron, First Officer. B-767 (Toronto); Russell Brown, Flight Attendant (Winnipeg).

In Quebec City.

Pierre Tousignant, Manager, Customer Service (right) surprised Customer Sales and Service Agent Louise Viens on Hallowe'en with her 35-year service anniversary pin.

From left to right: Jeannette Pelletier, Steve Myles, Enrica Cova, Aude Garston, Louise Viens, Colette Fortier, Denis Grenier and Pierre Tousignant; and sitting, Louise Guimond and Claire Versailles.

San Francisco (SFO) celebrated the start-up of its new service to Vancouver with the crew of Flight 523.

Pictured here are: Jon Moore, In-Charge; Jill Hong, Flight Attendant; Kirk Davis, First Officer; Neville Fong, Manager, Customer Service - SFO; Captain C.A. McKinnon; Peter McKenna-Small, Flight Attendant and Ginger Miller, Regional Sales Manager.

"In one day, Air Canada vaulted ahead to become the largest carrier to the continental United States out of Vancouver. This proves our determination to be the prime airline for this city," says Rob Ramage, General Manager, Customer Service - B.C. & Pacific Rim.

Last flight of the L-1011.

January 14, 1996, marked the end of scheduled Lockheed L-1011 Tristar service with Air Canada. Originally introduced in March 1973, the tri-motor was an instant hit with passengers and flight crews, eventually covering the entire company route structure in its long range version, the L1011-500.

Retired for economic reasons in 1991, the fleet was partially sold, leased out or stored in Arizona's Mojave desert. In the spring of 1994, three of the four aircraft remaining in storage (Fins 504, 507 and 512) were brought back into service.

These aircraft were smoothly re-introduced on the daily Los Angeles and Vancouver-Toronto runs, rapidly winning a reputation for excellent cabin service. For 20 months, it soldiered back and forth across the continent, sometimes a bit slow to start, but with its high cruising speed, it was seldom late.

Now the decision has once again been taken to retire this grand old airplane to the sands of Arizona. During the last two weeks of January, the three aircraft, stripped of all Air Canada markings, have quietly been returned to the desert. On January 19, a small farewell party was held in Toronto to say goodbye to this very popular airplane. A pleasure both to fly and to fly in, with dependable power provided by Rolls-Royce, all who have been involved wish her well in retirement.

Here we have a photo of the crew of last scheduled L-1011 Flight AC152 on January 14, 1996 from Vancouver (YVR) - Toronto (YYZ).

Back Row - Second Officer Bob Patterson, First Officer John Wiggin, ln-Charge Peg Fraser-Smith, Flight Attendants Silvia Todorovic, Roland Berard, Liz Davis and Sean McGuire.
Front Row - Captain Jim Sheldon, Flight Attendants Sue Davidson, Marcy Salvatore, Eric Royer and Karen Brown.

Reported by Captains David Wall and Darryl Stuparek.