Good morning from Calgary International Airport!
My name is Alex, and welcome back to the channel.
Today, I’m flying domestically with Air Canada to Toronto, on board their Boeing 767,
in Signature Class!
Now of course, I didn’t know it at the time, but this would be one of my last rides on
the Air Canada 767.
The remaining few in the mainline fleet were retired with very little fanfare earlier this
week, after having served the airline for over 30 years.
Air Canada was one of the first customers for the 767, flying the shorter -200 variant
for most of the 1980s before adding the larger -300 later on.
They flew more than 60 different 767s over their 37-year history with the airline, and
most of their newer -300s continued flying with leisure subsidiary Rouge.
At the time of recording in December 2019, Air Canada was down to just 5 in their mainline
fleet, being their oldest widebody aircraft.
This flight was part of a larger trip to the US, and although I’ve already flown the
767 up front, the price for Business Class was just a few hundred dollars more than economy.
For four separate flights connecting through Toronto, it ended up being a pretty good deal!
Now, just for clarification, the “Signature Class” name is essentially Air Canada’s
way of differentiating Business Class products.
The normal 2x2 recliners on their narrowbody aircraft are called “Business Class” seats
and the lie-flat pods on the widebodies are referred to as “Signature Class” seats.
At least, that’s how I understand it, the fares and ticket types are still called
“Business Class” for both types of seats.
I arrived nice and early for this flight, since a Business Class fare gives you access
to Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge.
As my home airport, I fly out of Calgary a lot, but I haven’t flown from Calgary on
an Air Canada Business fare before, so this is actually my first time here!
It wasn’t too busy this morning, so there was plenty of seating, as well as this gorgeous
view of the Rocky Mountains!
There was an excellent selection of food for breakfast, from muffins to hashbrowns, sausages,
and omelettes, as well as the usual cold options.
Free wifi is also available here.
Overall, Calgary’s Maple Leaf Lounge is very classy and offers some fantastic views,
especially on a clear day like today.
That said, I am curious to see what competitor WestJet will offer for their upcoming flagship
lounge here in Calgary, which should open later this year.
Our gate for today is C56, and here’s the inbound flight arriving from Toronto,
operated by C-FOCA, a 29-year-old Boeing 767-300ER.
This 767 entered service with Canadian Airlines in May of 1990.
These were actually supposed to be retired a while back, but I think we all know why
they were still flying at this point.
And, even before that... other crisis happened, these were expected to keep flying until October 2020.
While they’re certainly a bit dated on the interior, these 767s still have a lot of sentimental
value for me personally.
My first aviation-related memory is actually on board one of these, watching the sun rise
while over the Atlantic.
So, dated or not, any flight on the 767 is pretty special.
Let’s go to Toronto!
Air Canada’s 767 Signature Class is arranged in an unusual 1-1-1 configuration.
They call these seats their “Classic Pod”, and there are 24 of them on this aircraft,
with 8 rows total.
My seat for this 3 and a half hour flight is 4A.
Waiting at each seat is a pillow, blanket, and mattress pad.
The legroom here is excellent as you’d expect, especially for tall people like myself.
Well worth the extra money!
As boarding continued, a crew member came around with a tray of pre-departure drinks,
and I opted for a glass of orange juice.
Later on, menus were handed out as well.
You’ll notice that these seats are in a herringbone configuration, meaning they face
inward, and as a result, it’s kinda tricky to look out the window.
The engine view here in row 4 though is pretty nice!
I’ll give a more detailed seat tour once we’re in the air, so here’s our departure
from Calgary, with some stunning views of the Rockies as we make a speedy takeoff
from runway 35L.
Now that we’ve departed into some crystal clear prairie skies, let’s take a look at
the rest of the seat.
Starting from the front, Air Canada’s classic pod has a pocket for the safety card,
… a coat hook,
… in-flight entertainment screen, which I’ll go over later,
… a remote and controls for the seat,
… a reading light,
… in-seat power, USB port, and headphone jack,
… and on the right side, a cup holder with a small shelf for drinks,
… as well as another pocket for the in-flight magazines and air sickness bags.
The tray table in these seats is a bit finicky, but there’s lots of space, and it can also swivel out.
Shortly after departure, hot towels were given out, and a crew member came around with orders
for the meal service.
However, they looked quite confused when I asked for the lamb.
It turned out they had been given the wrong menu and they just didn’t have some of those
main courses, so I opted for a veal dish instead.
The cabin service director came by a bit later, greeted me by name and gave me Air Canada’s
classic bowl of warm nuts, as well as a glass of Coke for a drink.
Air Canada’s older in-flight entertainment is notoriously slow, but when it works, it
does have a decent selection.
Some patience is required, but on a 29-year-old 767 like this, it’s better than nothing.
Unfortunately, most of Saskatchewan and Manitoba were covered in clouds,
so there wasn’t much to see outside.
The meal service was a little bit slow today, and the first trays didn’t come out until
an hour after departure.
For the appetizer, Air Canada had a yellowfin tuna rice bowl with some spinach and cucumbers.
That also came with a bread roll, more drinks, salt and pepper, and actual metal cutlery.
The tuna tasted great, but I wasn’t a fan of the spinach.
I also find the bread rolls are usually hit or miss, they’re tricky to cut open and
the butter isn’t so easy to spread.
For the main course, I don’t know the specifics since it wasn’t actually written on the
menu, but it consisted mainly of veal in some sauce, potato wedges, and broccoli.
The veal was tender and tasted delicious, as did the potatoes, although the broccoli
was a bit soggy.
It still tasted great though!
Throughout the meal service, a couple… “quirks” of this 767 made themselves apparent.
My tray table was soon cleared, and dessert was served.
We had the option of a cheese plate, fruit bowl, or a chocolate puff, and I chose the latter.
It was nice and light, not too crunchy, and was a good end to the meal.
Overall, I thought the meal was nicely done.
Some parts were better than others, but for a domestic flight, this wasn’t bad at all.
For Air Canada, the “Signature Class” name is mostly attributed to their lie-flat
pods, and these “Classic Pod” seats still do the job nicely!
In the fully flat position, the Classic Pods are about 6 foot 3 in terms of length.
Seeing as I’m 6 foot 8, that’s a bit of an issue, but at least I can still stretch
out past the head of the bed.
Since this is a domestic flight, turndown service is a strictly do-it yourself affair.
I found the mattress pad didn’t actually do that much in terms of improving comfort,
but it’s still nice to have a layer between yourself and the actual seat.
I ended up napping for a solid half hour, which is a really nice change of pace for
someone who usually flies this route in Economy.
When I woke up, the sun was setting, and the flight crew were making their pre-landing announcement.
As it got darker outside, this pretty sweet mood lighting in the cabin turned on.
Before we land, here’s a look at the safety card,
… inflight magazine,
… and duty free catalog.
Stay tuned for my final thoughts on this domestic 767 flight after landing.
Here’s us making a beautiful dusk arrival onto Toronto-Pearson’s runway 24R.
Overall, this wasn’t a bad flight with Air Canada at all.
Service-wise, the crew were nice enough, and although the meal service took a little longer
than expected, it was pretty tasty!
The seats were comfortable enough too, and in-flight entertainment aside, I think they
still hold up.
As for the aforementioned ‘quirks’ of the 767, honestly, it’s all part of the
experience, flying on classic aircraft like this!
In fairness, I think Air Canada did the best they could keeping it up to date.
Sadly though, passenger 767 flying in Canada is now pretty much a thing of the past.
With the retirement of these final mainline aircraft, the major cuts to Rouge, including
the retirement of all 25 767s there, and WestJet’s 4 aircraft likely not returning to service,
Canada’s gone from three different passenger 767s to zero.
Looking back on this flight, it was actually supposed to be flown by an A330.
But after a few equipment changes, it ended up being this classic bird, and y’know what?
I’m really glad it was.
*ding*
It is a shame that such an important part of Canadian aviation history was retired so quietly.
Delta managed to throw together a really nice send-off for their MD-80s and MD-90s, but
this one just seemed to slip by without much notice, except for some
corporate social media posts after the fact.
It’s kinda disappointing because I would’ve loved to be on that final flight, for an aircraft
which may have been the whole reason I got into aviation in the first place.
Either way, I am glad I got to fly the 767 one last time, even if I didn’t know it then.
Thank you very much for watching this trip report with Air Canada’s 767.
If you liked the video, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe if you’re new, and I’ll
see you next time for... hopefully a less somber trip report.
Until then, take care.