Air Canada (TSX: AC.A, AC.B) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth-largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, an alliance of 28 member airlines formed in 1997. Air Canada's corporate headquarters are located in Montreal, Quebec, while its largest hub is Toronto Pearson International Airport, located in Mississauga, Ontario. Air Canada had passenger revenues of CA$10.2 billion in 2011. The airline's regional service is Air Canada Express.
Canada's national airline originated from the Canadian federal government's 1936 creation of Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA), which began operating its first transcontinental flight routes in 1938. In 1965, TCA was renamed Air Canada following government approval. Following the 1980s deregulation of the Canadian airline market, the airline was privatized in 1988. In 2001 Air Canada acquired its largest rival, Canadian Airlines. In 2003 the airline filed for bankruptcy protection and, the following year, emerged and reorganized under the holding company ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. In 2006, 34 million people flew with Air Canada as the airline celebrated its 70th anniversary.
Air Canada has a fleet of Airbus A330, Boeing 767, and Boeing 777 wide-body jetliners on long-haul routes, and uses Airbus A320 family aircraft, including the A319, A320, and A321 variations and Embraer E170/E190 family aircraft on short-haul routes. The carrier's operating divisions include Air Canada Cargo and Air Canada Jetz. Its subsidiary, Air Canada Vacations, provides vacation packages to over 90 destinations. Together with its regional partners, the airline operates on average more than 1,530 scheduled flights daily.
Read more about Air Canada: Former Subsidiaries, Destinations, Fleet, Services, Aeroplan, Air Canada Altitude, Air Canada Affiliates, Incidents and Accidents
Famous quotes containing the words air and/or canada:
“They may bring their fattest cattle and richest fruits to the fair, but they are all eclipsed by the show of men. These are stirring autumn days, when men sweep by in crowds, amid the rustle of leaves like migrating finches; this is the true harvest of the year, when the air is but the breath of men, and the rustling of leaves is as the trampling of the crowd.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Though the words Canada East on the map stretch over many rivers and lakes and unexplored wildernesses, the actual Canada, which might be the colored portion of the map, is but a little clearing on the banks of the river, which one of those syllables would more than cover.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)