April 10, 1937: TCA Act passed by Parliament
July 30, 1937: Historic dawn-to-dusk Trans-Canada survey flight flown between St. Hubert, Quebec and Vancouver, b.c.
Sept. 1, 1937: tca makes its first commercial flight, from Vancouver to Seattle, Wash.
Sept.19, 1938: tca begins Air Express Services, on a regular basis, between Winnipeg and Vancouver
April 1, 1939: tca makes its first scheduled passenger flight between Montreal and Vancouver; service is also launched between Lethbridge and Edmonton
July 22, 1943: tca completes its first transatlantic flights using unarmed Avro Lancaster aircraft
Sept. 16, 1946: Transatlantic service is extended to London from Prestwick
Dec. 1, 1948: tca starts its southern service to Port of Spain, Trinidad
1949: tca headquarters is relocated to Montreal from Winnipeg
April 2, 1950: Tampa, Fla. is added to tca’s Caribbean service.
April 1, 1951: tca’s transatlantic service is extended to include Paris via London flights.
May 1, 1952: Transatlantic tourist class service is launched
Nov. 5, 1952: Dusseldorf becomes part of tca’s European destinations
June 1, 1956: Nonstop service between Toronto and Calgary is established
September 29, 1957: Toronto-u.k. nonstop services is introduced
April 2, 1958: tca begins service to Brussels
May 15, 1958: Airline extends service to Zurich; Montreal-Paris nonstop service is begun
May 1, 1959: tca expands its European route to Vienna
January 1, 1965: Trans-Canada Air Lines officially changes its name to Air Canada
November 1, 1966: Air Canada becomes first North American airline to fly to the Soviet Union
May 1, 1970: Air Canada begins flying to Prague
April 30, 1972: The company introduces its Rapidair service between Montreal and Toronto
1975: Air Canada begins service to the French West Indies
1984: Aeroplan is launched
1988-1989: Privatization of Air Canada occurs
1995: Open Skies agreement is signed
Also in this retrospective:
– Flying high for 60 years p.30
– After slow start, airline’s marketing soars: In its early years, Air Canada’s focus was on selling tickets, but then it discovered the customer had needs and expectations p.35.
