Air Canada facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Air Canada

Founded	10 April 1937; 87 years ago (1937-04-10) (as Trans-Canada Air Lines)
Commenced operations	1 January 1965; 59 years ago (1965-01-01) (as Air Canada)
AOC #	Canada: 5262 United States: ARNF245C
Hubs	Montréal–Trudeau Toronto–Pearson Vancouver
Focus cities	Calgary Halifax Ottawa
Frequent-flyer program	Aeroplan
Alliance	Star Alliance
Subsidiaries	Air Canada Cargo Air Canada Express Air Canada Jetz Air Canada Rouge
Fleet size	353 (including subsidiaries)
Destinations	195
Headquarters	Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada
Key people	Vagn Sørensen (Chairman) Michael Rousseau (President & CEO)
Revenue	CA$16.5 billion (2022)
Operating income	CA$–187 million (2022)
Net income	CA$–1,524 million (2022)
Total assets	CA$29,507 million (2022)
Employees	36,000 (2023)

Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 222 destinations worldwide. It is a founding member of the Star Alliance. Air Canada's major hubs are at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL), and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).

Canada's national airline originated from the Canadian federal government's 1936 creation of Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA), which began operating its first transcontinental flight routes in 1938. In 1965, TCA was renamed Air Canada following government approval. After the deregulation of the Canadian airline market in the 1980s, the airline was privatized in 1988. On 4 January 2000, Air Canada took over its largest rival, Canadian Airlines. In 2003, the airline filed for bankruptcy protection and in the following year emerged and reorganized under the holding company ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. In 2019, Air Canada flew 51.5 million passengers. In October 2021, the Government of Canada acquired 6.4% of Air Canada in return for financial support to mitigate the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air Canada has a fleet of Airbus A330, Boeing 777, and Boeing 787 Dreamliner wide-body aircraft on long-haul routes and uses the Airbus A320 family aircraft (including the A319, A320, and A321 variants), Boeing 737 MAX 8, and Airbus A220-300 aircraft on short-haul routes. The carrier's operating divisions include Air Canada Cargo, Air Canada Express, Air Canada Jetz (private jet charters), and Air Canada Rouge (leisure airline). Its subsidiary, Air Canada Vacations, provides vacation packages to over 90 destinations. Together with its regional partners, the airline operates on average more than 1,613 scheduled flights daily.

Fleet

A Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Air Canada

As of December 2023^[update], the Air Canada fleet consists of 187 mainline passenger aircraft, a mix of Airbus and Boeing narrow-body and wide-body jets.

Additionally, Air Canada's various brands each have smaller fleets. Air Canada Cargo operates a fleet of seven Boeing 767-300F freighter aircraft, Air Canada Express has a fleet of 50 turboprop aircraft and 67 regional jets, Air Canada Jetz operates four Airbus A320 aircraft in an all-Business class configuration, and leisure brand Air Canada Rouge has 40 jets from the Airbus A320 family of narrow-body aircraft.

Current fleet

This section only covers Air Canada's mainline passenger fleet. It does not include the fleets of Air Canada Cargo, Air Canada Express, Air Canada Jetz or Air Canada Rouge.

Gallery

• Hover over each photo to view label detail
• 

  Airbus A220-300

• 

  Airbus A319-100 in older livery

• 

  Airbus A320-200

• 

  Airbus A321-200

• 

  Airbus A330-300

• 

  Boeing 737 MAX 8

• 

  Boeing 777-200LR

• 

  Boeing 777-300ER

• 

  Boeing 787-8

• 

  Boeing 787-9

Historical fleet

• Air Canada's Douglas DC-8-63 fleet was withdrawn from passenger service in 1983. Six of these were converted to DC-8-73F freighters in 1984 and retained for use by Air Canada Cargo eventually being sold off between 1990 and 1994.
• Air Canada's Douglas DC-9-15s were used up to 1968. One DC-9-32CF was used for cargo flights until 1977. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32s were used from 1967 to 2002.
• Air Canada's Canadair CRJ-100 aircraft were used from the mid 1990s until the early 2000s when they were transferred to regional affiliate Jazz Air LP operating as Air Canada Jazz.
• Air Canada's Airbus A340-500s were retired in November 2007 and replaced by Boeing 777-200LRs.
• Air Canada's Airbus A340-300s were retired in November 2008 and replaced by Boeing 777-300ERs.
• Air Canada's Boeing 767-200ER fleet was retired from service by the end of 2008.
• The McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft were operated from 1979 to 2000 by Canadian Pacific Air Lines and its successors Canadian Airlines International.
• The Boeing 737-200 aircraft were operated from 1968 to 2000 by Canadian Pacific Air Lines and its successors Canadian Airlines International. Subsequent to the merger with Canadian Airlines International, Air Canada operated these aircraft in a mainline two-class configuration, as well as in an all-economy class configuration with the Air Canada Tango and the Zip low-cost carrier brands.
• In 2020, Air Canada retired their entire Embraer E190 and Boeing 767-300ER fleets. The Embraer E190s were replaced by the Airbus A220-300 and Boeing 737 MAX 8, while the Boeing 767-300ER was replaced by the Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 787s. As of December 2021, certain previously retired Boeing 767-300ER (legacy passenger variant) aircraft are being converted and reintroduced into the fleet as Boeing 767-300ER/BDSF cargo aircraft.
• Air Canada additionally planned to completely retire its Airbus A319 fleet in May 2020, replacing them with further Airbus A220-300s. The mainline A319s were tentatively retired later than previously planned on February 7, 2021, with the final mainline A319 operating a flight from Calgary to Phoenix; however, Air Canada continued to operate A319s as part of its charter fleet under Air Canada Jetz. Subsequently, mainline A319 service resumed in March 2022. As of September 2023, Air Canada operates 5 A319s as part of its mainline fleet.

Aircraft that Air Canada has operated since 1937, but are no longer in the fleet:

British Aerospace 146-200 and Fokker F28 jet aircraft were operated by regional airline affiliates of Air Canada via code sharing agreements.

Services

Air Canada has three classes of service, Business/Signature, Premium Economy, and Economy. On most long-haul international and short-haul routes operated by widebody aircraft, Signature Class, Premium Economy, and Economy Class are offered; most short-haul and domestic routes feature Business Class and Economy Class. All mainline seats feature AVOD (Audio Video On Demand) and mood lighting. Air Canada Express features Business Class and Economy Class, on CRJ900 and Embraer E175 aircraft; all other Air Canada Express aircraft have one-class economy cabins. All narrowbody mainline aircraft, as well as Air Canada Express CRJ900 and Embraer E175 aircraft have onboard Wi-Fi installed, which is also being installed on all widebody aircraft.

In the spring of 1987, Air Canada enacted no-smoking flights between Canada and New York City as a test. After a survey reported that 96% of passengers supported the smoking ban, Air Canada extended the ban to other flights.

Cabin crew

On 9 February 2017, a new uniform scheme coinciding with Canada's 150th and Air Canada's 80th anniversaries was unveiled. Air Canada partnered with Vancouver-born fashion designer Christopher Bates to design the new uniforms which incorporate a base colour of black or grey with red lettering and the famous maple leaf.

Between 2004 and 2017, Air Canada uniforms used a midnight blue colour. The uniforms were designed by Canadian fashion designer Debbie Shuchat. At a presentation in the Toronto Airport hangar, Celine Dion helped the newly solvent airline debut its new image.

Frequent flyer program

Aeroplan is Air Canada's frequent flyer rewards program, both allowing for points collection and spending, as well as status and rewards as an Air Canada customer. After Air Canada and Aeroplan changed the division of points collection and redemption, Air Canada introduced an internal rewards program, Altitude. The two programs operate in conjunction.

In May 2017, Air Canada announced it plans to launch a new loyalty program to replace Aeroplan and Altitude in 2020. On 10 January 2019, Air Canada re-acquired Aeroplan from Aimia. In 2020, Air Canada Altitude and Aeroplan merged, with Aeroplan as the surviving entity.

Air Canada Altitude

A priority check-in queue at Beijing Capital International Airport for members of "Air Canada Altitude", the airline's frequent flyers program.

On 20 September 2012, Air Canada unveiled its new frequent flyer status program named "Air Canada Altitude" to supplement Aeroplan. Aeroplan remained the frequent flyer rewards program, collecting miles which can be "spent", whereas status level is determined by Altitude standing.

There are five levels of membership in Air Canada's Altitude Program: Basic, Prestige 25K, Elite 35K, Elite 50K, Elite 75K and Super Elite 100K. The latter three are called "Top Tier" membership levels and provide travel benefits such as upgrades, lounge access, priority services (e.g., check-in, luggage handling), and bonuses when earning miles through air travel. In order to qualify for these levels, a member must earn, through flight activities, a certain number of miles or a certain number of segments and spending some level of money. Altitude refers to these as Altitude Qualifying Miles (AQM), Segments (AQS), and Dollars (AQD).

Prestige members and Altitude Elite 35 K receive Star Alliance Silver status, while Elite 50K, Elite 75K, and Super Elite 100K members receive Star Alliance Gold status.

Air Canada Status Miles are calculated on an annual basis to determine Altitude Membership Status for the following benefit year (1 March through 28 February). At the 35K and above levels, that level of status is granted when achieved, for the remainder of the current year, as well as for the next year.

This coincides with the alliance with Star Alliance, and this can give Star Alliance Gold passengers access to any Star Alliance lounge and discounts or upgrades on another Star Alliance member.

On 8 November 2020, Air Canada Altitude renamed as Aeroplan Elite Status. Altitude Qualifying Miles (AQM), Segments (AQS), and Dollars (AQD) have been replaced by Status Qualifying Miles (SQM), Segments (SQS), and Dollars (SQD).

Privacy concerns

In February 2019, TechCrunch reported that the Air Canada mobile app in the iOS App Store incorporated session-replay software from the Israeli firm Glassbox. This software, without the users' informed consent, recorded users' activities and transmitted the data, including unredacted credit card data and passport numbers, to remote servers. This compromised users' privacy and contravened the rules of the iOS App Store.

See also

In Spanish: Air Canada para niños

Images for kids

• 

  A TCA Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra at Malton Airport, 1939

• 

  An Air Canada Boeing 767-200 in the 1964-1992 livery

• 

  An Air Canada Airbus A340-300 in Star Alliance livery, 1997. Air Canada was a founding member of the airline alliance, established in 1997.

• 

  A Boeing 737-275 with a hybrid Air Canada-Canadian Airlines International livery. The latter airline was acquired by Air Canada in 2001.

• 

  An Air Canada Boeing 787-8 in the 'Frosted Leaf' livery at Frankfurt Airport. In 2005, the airline ordered a number of Boeing 787-8s

• 

  Calin Rovinescu in 2015. Rovinescu served as the CEO of Air Canada from 2009 to 2021.

• 

  New livery for Air Canada's fleet, unveiled at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport in February 2017 with an Airbus A321

• 

  An Air Canada Airbus A220-300 at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, 2020.

• 

  The Air Canada Centre at Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport serves as the airline's headquarters.

• 

  Operating regional feeder services, Air Canada Express is a subsidiary of Air Canada.

• 

  Air Canada Rouge is a subsidiary of Air Canada.

• 

  Air Canada Jazz was a former subsidiary that operated as a regional airline. The subsidiary was spun off in 2006, although it continued to use the Air Canada brand until 2011.

• 

  Air Canada's check-in counter at Hong Kong International Airport