A Century of Flight

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight in this country, Doug Morris answers your questions about Canadian aviation.

Photos: Air Canada Archives

Q: When was Air Canada’s first regularly scheduled commercial flight?
Jeffrey Landry
Montréal

The maiden flight of Air Canada (known then as Trans-Canada Airlines) carried two passengers and mail from Vancouver to Seattle on September 1, 1937. The round-trip fare aboard the shiny new Lockheed 10A Electra was a grand total of $14.20. The polished silver metal two-engine aircraft could carry 10 passengers up to 713 miles at a whopping cruising speed of 190 miles per hour. To this day, you may see the Electra doing promotional flights in its original TCA livery.

Q: When did Air Canada start using jets in its fleet?  
Chris Beauchamp
Saint John

Air Canada was propelled into the jet age on April 1, 1960, with the introduction of the DC-8. This four-jet-engine airliner came in four configurations – one strictly for cargo – with seating capacity ranging from 133 to 205. It proved to be a workhorse for 23 years before giving way to the twin-engine Boeing 767, capable of flying the same distance (3,300 miles) at the same speed (530 mph) but requiring only two pilots instead of three.