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35th Anniversary of Canadian Airlines A presentation from the Rhys T. Eyton National Museum of Sancratosia

Beginning

Canadian Airlines began its operations on 27 March 1987 from the merger of Canadian Pacific Air Lines and Pacific Western Airlines. The new name and logo is unveiled, showcasing a red chevron over 5 gray bars representing the five continents. The wordmark features the chevron to make for a bilingual wordmark where it can either be read as "Canadian" or "Canadien" (the latter being the French name of the airline).

Canadian Airlines logo 1987-1999

Change

In 1999, Canadian Airlines changed its logo and livery to incorporate a stylized Canada goose on its tail. It retained the idea of the chevron but dropped the five gray lines.

Tickets

Luggage tags

Safety cards

Stickers

Flight merchandise

Pins

Toys

Bags

Plane models

Working

Working for Canadian Airlines was deemed a fun experience and employees felt a sense of family. The employees even pitched in when the airline was in danger financially and became part owners of the airline they worked for.

Dining

The menu was exquisite and its menu was thought by an array of renowned chefs from Canada some of which are still doing airlines menus to this day.

Plates are branded with the gray lines and chevron.

Canadian Airlines focused on asian markets and translated its menu in Chinese and Japanese to help its clients.

Fleet

Canadian Airlines had a main fleet consisting of 5 different planes :

  • Boeing 747-400
  • Boeing 767-300ER
  • Boeing 737-200
  • Douglas DC-30
  • Airbus A320-200

Other aircrafts operated in full or temporarily by Canadian Airlines or its subsidiaires include :

  • Fokker F28-1000
  • Fokker 100
  • ATR 42-300
  • BAe 146-200
  • de Havilland Canada DHC-8 100
  • Beechcraft 1900D
  • Boeing 737-200 Combi
  • Airbus A310-300
Piece of fuselage from a Fokker F28-100 operated by Canadian Airlines through its subsidiary of Time Air.

Innovative

In April 1994, Canadian Airlines becomes the first airline to launch a website (www.cdnair.ca) and to have online transactional capabilities. In September 1998, it becomes a founding member of the airline alliance Oneworld.

Merger

All this innovation did little to stop the airline from failing financially. The airline tried to survive by signing a deal with American Airlines, an allied airline of Canadian Airlines, but that deal was rejected by the Canadian government. In June 2000, it was announced that Canadian Airlines would merge with long-time rival Air Canada. The airline would coexist as a subsidiary for one year before being fully integrated on 1 January 2001.

Appreciate

Credits:

Chloé Fortin Côté