Air Canada

Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA), Air Canada's predecessor, launched its first flight, a Lockheed 10A, on September 1, 1937. It carried two passengers and mail from Vancouver to Seattle. In 1964 the company changed its name to Air Canada and in 1989 became fully privatized. Air Canada provides scheduled and charter air transportation for passengers and cargo to over 150 destinations, vacation packages to over 90 destinations, as well as maintenance, ground handling and training services to other airlines.

In 2000 after acquiring Canada's second largest air carrier, Canadian Airlines[?], it became the world's twelfth largest commercial airline.

As of 2002, Air Canada provides scheduled and chartered passenger jet service directly to 20 Canadian cities, 35 destinations in the United States and 47 cities in Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, the Middle East and South America. Air Canada averages nearly 740 flights each day, and serves 23 million customers annually. It is a member in the Star Alliance[?] network, a grouping of 14 airlines offering seamless travel worldwide. Together, Star Alliance carriers serve 729 airports in 124 countries. As of 2002, Air Canada has about 40 000 employees and 357 aircraft.

In 2002 Air Canada had 77 wide-body jets of several types including the Boeing 747 and 767, Airbus A330-300 and A340-300, and 148 narrow-body jets: Airbus A320, A319, A321, Boeing 737 and Canadair Regional Jet.

On 1 April 2003, Air Canada asked for bankruptcy protection.