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_| TCA |_ B E T W E E N Y O U R S E L V E S
_|\| AIR |/|_ N E T L E T T E R
> CANADA <
>_./|\._< for Air Canada retirees
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Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson
http://www.acra.ca/between/vesta/
Co-pilot - Terry Baker
http://www.acra.ca/between
number 347 date Mar 13th, 1999 1st Published in October 1995
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. We welcome Tom and Rose Woodhouse, Tom retired in 1983, living in Montreal.
email is
Marion Sweeney retired Operation Supervisor and lives in Calgary, AB
email for Marion is
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. News from the districts.
Sheila Moscoe, who organises the T2 Coffee Klatch in YYZ sends this -
Well, just wanted you to know that we had "standing room" only on
Tuesday Feb 2nd at our get-together.
The wx was foggy and overcast..terrible day..and we had a record turnout!!
Go figure. The management at Golden Griddle is very pleased that we are
using their restaurant for our venue, that they are going to offer us a $25
voucher for dining. So, we're going to have a draw once a month and the
lucky person will be able to use the voucher at any GG restaurants. Nice, eh?
I'll be away for March 2nd's coffee klatch so someone else will hostess
it for me.
So,that's it for now,
Take care, Sheila
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. Larry O'Brien sends this for your information -
Subject: Travel Privledges.
Here is a copy of a letter I recently sent to Mr. Paul Garrett, VP Human
Resources.
Perhaps my fellow Air Canada retires would like to read it and send their
opinions about business class pass travel along.
Mr. Garrett did reply and state that Air Canada will wait to see what
experience Canadian Airlines have with their program. One area obviously
where Air Canada does not lead the way.
January 15, 1999
Mr. Paul R. Garratt
Vice President Human Resources
Air Canada
PO Box 14000, Station Airport
Dorval, PQ H4Y 1H4
Dear Mr. Garratt:
As a retired employee and long time shareholder I would like to present
you with the following suggestion for your consideration.
Having served Air Canada for more than twenty-six years on the flight
deck, first as a Navigator and then as a Pilot, I find it somewhat
difficult even after seven years of retirement to accept the fact that I
am not good enough to fly in Business Class when travelling on an
employee pass. As I walk through the Business Class section and proceed
to the Economy section I am always reminded of November 1971.
During a short period of time in that era Air Canada decided that
employees including Flight Crew were not good enough to fly in First
Class. On November 12, 1971 I arrived in Winnipeg as a crew member of
Flt 853 from London, England. Immediately upon arrival I was informed
that Flight 812 had been hijacked and the hijacker was a member of the
IRA and wanted to be flown to Ireland. I was informed that the hijacker
was carrying a sawed-off shot-gun that he had already fired once in the
aircraft, he had six sticks of dynamite tied around his waist and
claimed to have a suitcase full of dynamite in his checked luggage. I
was then asked if I would volunteer to operate the hijacked flight to
Ireland. I was informed that the aircraft was on the ground in Great
Falls, USA and was waiting there until a navigator could be provided.
The hijacked agreed to permit the flight to proceed to pick me up in
Regina but not to Winnipeg because there would be too many police in
Winnipeg. I asked if the passengers were still on board and when advised
that they were I volunteered to operate the hijacked flight from Regina
to Dublin, Ireland. Fortunately for me I never had to get on that
aircraft due to the fact the Captain and crew was able to surprise the
hijacker and subdue him on their way to pick me up in Regina.
Interestingly Air Canada decided that I would warrant a "First Class
Confirmed Space" pass to go from Winnipeg to Regina and I was able to
enjoy that privilege on the short flight to Regina. By some amazing
justification the next day when I was to proceed to my home base in
Vancouver I was only good enough to travel standby economy.
So my memory will never let me forget when I see empty business class
seats and must walk by them to the economy section.
I recently travelled on a United Airlines flight from Hong Kong to San
Francisco and spoke to a United Captain and his wife who had been on the
same cruise as myself. He and his wife were able to upgrade to First
Class for a fee of $50.00. I understand that this is the policy of
United Airlines as well as American Airlines and some other of our
competitors.
Will Air Canada consider providing this privileged to its active and
retired employees? I believe it would be a great moral booster and could
be a no cost item as a sufficient service charge could be applied to
cover the additional expense to the company.
I would like to suggest the following rules could apply.
1. Service charge would be a minimum of $25.00 and at the rate of $10.00
per scheduled hour for flights of three or more hours.
2. When registering for a flight employees would be required to indicate
their desire for an upgrade if available.
3. Upgrading to Business Class would be on the basis of the employees
normal seniority with the exception that junior employees requesting
upgrade would take precedence over senior employees who did not
request an upgrade.
4. Upgrade service charges would be deducted from employees pay or
pension cheques.
Thank you for your consideration of my suggestion.
Yours truly,
Larry O'Brien <
(Recall at the beginning this statement -
Quote - ' Mr. Garrett did reply and state that Air Canada will wait
to see what experience Canadian Airlines have with their program.
One area obviously where Air Canada does not lead the way.' Unquote
Don't get confused, this is NOT company policy - yet! But could be
the start of some changes - the AGM is coming up! be heard - eds)
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. More info from Brian Dunn in Toronto -
....and you think YOU had a bad day! The news media were quick to
report President Boris Yeltsin leaving the funeral of King Hussein in a
hurry to return to Moscow due to his ailing health. What the western
media did not report was that his IL-96 aircraft was taxiing at Moscow's
Vnukono-2 airport when it collided with the DC-9 waiting to fly Italian
Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema home to Italy. Apparently, the IL-96
took the tailplane off the parked Italian DC-9. Another plane had to be
flown in to take home Signor D'Alema. Neither leader knew about the
incident until later because the collision was so gentle.
Air Canada took delivery of their 10th A340-300 on February 11th
when C-GDVV (FLN908) flew from Toulouse to Montreal. It is expected to
go into revenue service by February 23rd approximately.
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. Ken Day sends this memory -
Subject: Royal Flight
Thursday, June 7, 1962 was a Red Letter Day in at least two respects.
London, Eng. was hot, very hot with the temperature pushing 30 degrees C.
plus. Secondly, Trans-Canada Airlines Flt. 857, A DC-8, carried Her
Majesty, The Queen Mother, together with the Royal Party and 29 (regular)
passengers. (plus Norm Batten, TCA rep.)
This set a major precedent for the Royal Family when the Queen Mother
arrived in Montreal on a regularly scheduled airliner with other passengers
on board.
This, the first of several subsequent Royal Flights, as you may well
imagine, was of no little import to all those people directly and
indirectly involved in the planning and preparation for a particularly
special first flight. It would not be an exaggeration to say that every
branch/department in the Company was involved in one way or another.
Protocol, seating configurations, the provision of dressing areas, trunk
storage, amenities, white glove service and equipment all ranked highly in
the planning process. Route planning and timing of A- "To the minute"
Arrival at Dorval for the welcoming ceremonies was a major consideration.
The possibility of any odious comparisons to B.O.A.C. in the aftermath was
an incentive in itself!
In all of this- the planning, the purchasing, the checking, the double
checking, Frank Salverda, the executive chef probably said it best to the
cabin crew that "When the door closes, you're on your own!"
A lesson in preparedness was not lost on Frank St. Hilaire. When , in
passing a crew meal on the flight deck, the tray contents were spilled on
him! Frank had the foresight to carry spare trousers so the day was not
lost.
The flight itself was uneventful with a beautiful clear day over the ice
cap. At one point, the Queen Mum, unannounced, walked slowly through the
economy cabin chatting with a number of passengers.
Regarding the temperature in London, prior to boarding the flight, Her
Majesty had stepped in heat-softened tar on the London Tarmac. What with
welcoming ceremonies, a walk about, TV cameras, etc. and with no matching
spares readily available, what could we do? What indeed, without making an
unsightly situation worse? After some thought and with some trepidation on
the possible result, Isopropyl Alcohol was removed from the medical kit and
put to an unintended use - successfully!
And, I would note, it was an "on the Minute" Arrival.
The Crew for this flight were:Capt. Bob Smith, Capt. Ab Freeman, Capt. John
Crosby, Navigator Bill Bridgeford,Chief Purser Frank St. Hilaire, Pursers
Chuck Smith, Ken Day, Stewardesses Marcelle Paulin, Marise Bowley, Barb
Forbes, Sylvia Cooper.
Cheers, Ken Day <
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. Report of trip to Portugal by your co-pilot.
Our trip started Jan 27th with a two hour ferry trip from Vancouver Island
to the Mainland, and a 40 minute taxi ride to YVR. We had no trouble plussing
on AC to LHR arriving on Friday, too late to catch the T.A.P. flight to
Faro in Portugal's Algarve region. We overnighted at the Heathrow Lodge
Hotel for GPB40.00 per room double includes breakfast. The T.A.P. flight
leaves LHR at 06:10, so it was an early start on Saturday, too early for the
free shuttle operated by the hotel, also breakfast starts at 07:00! We made
the T.A.P. flight with our ID90, Z fares not applicable, at a cost of
GBP67.00 which, plus all the taxes and conversion, comes to CA$234.20. The
breakfast on board was excellent.
Upon checking the aircraft after disembarking at Faro, I noticed that the
Airbus320 was owned by Air Macau.
The taxi to Quartiera was CA$40.00. We had reserved a one bedroom efficiency
apartment for CA$600 for the month, but this was unavailable and we were
installed into a 2 bedroomed one. Well with just the two of us rattling
around in the apartment, it was kind of cool, what with the tiles floors and
completely tiled bathroom, and the sun not shining into the apartment until
late in the day due to the highrise next door. So after a week we moved to
another 1 bedroom apartment right on the beach, whereas the former was 2
blocks from the beach. The aspect was great, sunshine all day, and we
were lulled to sleep by the waves each night.
We walked the beach and sea front many times, meeting with other vacationers,
many from the UK, and still more from Continental Europe. We took the bus
into Albufiera for CA$9.00 return, a 40 minute ride, and another into
Faro for the same price and distance. On the way to Faro, we passed the
hull of the Lockheed Constellation, adorned with lots of graffiti, and just
2 of the 3 fins still intact. No wings or engines were visable.
Food prices were akin to prices back home, interestingly the basics, bread,
potatoes, milk were taxed 5% and everything else 17% included in the
price, but broken down on the bill. The money is in Escudos, and the
smallest coin was 5 escudos, therefor if the bill ended in 1 or 2
escudos you were not
charged for it, but if it ended in 3 or 4 escudos you paid 5 escudos.
Isn't it time we got rid of that stupid 1c coin?
The weather was sunny, temperature in the early 60's and only 1 days rain
for the whole of February.
Our flight back was on GBAir, with our Z fare of US$66.00 plus taxes and
exchange comes to CA$145.00. The flight left at 11:55, and, as a backup, the
T.A.P. flight left at 18:00. We chose to travel to and from LHR for
convenience, although GBAir operates into Gatwick. When I checked the
aircraft, a B737, I noticed it was operated by British Airways - no wonder
the public gets confused.
Our return on Air Canada was pleasant enough, including the old aged
standby of strawberry jam and Devonshire cream for tea - surely this will
not be the
offering into the 21st?
I noticed that the movie on Air Canada gave hints on keeping fit during
the wait between connecting flights, as the actors were in their mid 30's
I can only assume that we retirees are fit enough and made of sterner stuff!
Incidentally, the person who dreamed up the breakfast we have had on the
last several flights into LHR, must have quite a sense of humour - try to
spread solid butter onto a crumbly muffin for laughs.
We look forward to another session in the Algarve next century.
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. Found on the internet.
ASIA READY FOR 2000
Most Asian airlines are confident they will be airborne at the turn of
the New Year despite the threat of the "millennium bug", according
to a recent survey. Fourteen out of 20 respondents, or 70% of the
carriers, said they would "definitely" be flying on January 1, 2000,
another 20% answered "probably", one airline "maybe" and
Indonesia's Garuda replied "probably not".
AIRCRAFT ORDERS
Northwest Airlines (NW) has placed the largest order ever for
Bombardier's CL-65 Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ). Bombardier and
Northwest reached an agreement for a firm order of 54 CRJ series
200LR aircraft, the largest order ever received by the Canadian
manufacturer for its 50-seat regional aircraft.
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. Smilie.
SHORT FINAL...
Recently, US Presidential VP Al Gore's delayed departure from Albany
snarled air traffic in the Northeast. After yet another revised
EFC, ATC queried one hardy soul on his status:
ALB Approach:
"Commuter 5678, can you hold out for another half hour or so?"
Commuter 5678: "Yes sir, fuel is not a problem. But I should advise you
that about half my passengers have now turned Republican."
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. That's it for this time, please we need your input, send
comments and email addresses of any others who may be
interested to Vesta with a copy to Terry.
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