CP Air - Canada's Second Airline
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2022
- Good Moro! :D
While the likes of Westjet and Air Transat now take a large chunk of the Canadian commercial aviation market from national carrier, Air Canada, for 59 years between 1942 and 2001, the main rival to the flag airline was Canadian Pacific Airlines and its many guises, a private company founded under the ownership of the Canadian Pacific Railway company, and would put up a fierce battle for domination of both domestic and international travel.
Known most famously for its 1968 to 1986 incarnation as CP Air, complimented by its striking orange, red and bare metal livery, the airline, in the face of stiff limits set by the Canadian federal government, was creative and fought well for what routes it could, although wider economic problems and poor choices during the 1980s and 1990s would ultimately spell the end for this former staple of the Canadian airline scene.
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References:
- Yesterdays Airlines (and their respective references)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references) - Auta a dopravní prostředky
One little tidbit to add to their story:
On August 21, 1961, a Canadian Pacific DC-8, registry CF-CPG, maintained a speed of Mach 1.012 (660mph) for 16 seconds, while descending from 41,000 Feet. Thus it became the first supersonic passenger jetliner.
Yes, it was intentional. It was a controlled test for new leading-edge designs for the wings. Mr. Supersonic himself, Chuck Yeager, followed in an F-104 chase plane for the test.
Interesting -- I could tell you a few stories too.
I joined CP Air as a flight attendant back in 1973. It was one heck of a classy airline that looked after it's crews. In my 43 year career, the CP era was the best!!!
You were terrific!
I am glad they looked after their crew because they sure as hell never looked after their "local" station staff. Every single CP Air Manager sent from HQ that I met in my 5 years with CP in Sydney, Australia in the 1980s was white Anglo-Saxon with very healthy servings of un-qualified, technically ignorant "friends and buddies uber Alles" promotion schemes.!!' We even had an Octogenarian left-over country manager - (John Callaghan) who didn't know his arse from a piston engine!! The number of flight plans I had to file on his behalf because of his ignorance is almost too high to count with my 10 toes and 10 fingers!! But he had friends in the right places so he lasted his 5 year tenure and retired to count his ill-gotten pension!
@@dezzodarlinghow does it feel to be racist. Asking for a friend.
@@xr6lad Against Canadians, it was easy - just treat them like they treat you!!
you got that right
I am Canadian and I really miss CP Airlines. Their planes and service were exceptional but the increasingly discount nature of flying did them in.
It didn't help much when CP Air Management was overladen with "whitey Canadians" who only rewarded/promoted their whitey friends!
One of the more underrated history youtubers you deserve at least 100k+
Not underrated by their fans though
True I look forward to seeing him reach this milestone.
Transportation history mind you
@@burntnougat5341 The last woman executed in Canada was hanged for her part in the conspiracy to plant a bomb aboard a CP Air flight out of Montreal in 1949 which killed all 23 passengers.
My first ever flight.Empress of Australia. CP air 747,Manchester to Toronto. July 77. I was 12 and allowed in the cockpit. Happy day’s.
I lived near O Hare in Chicago as a kid and we saw every air lines imaginable from all over the world and across the board everyone loved seeing CP Air the most.. That Orange & Silver was the most beautiful color scheme ever. The 747 was magnificent
Chicago is also America's rail capital
As a Canadian who fondly remembers the Canadian Airlines era, thanks so much for this wonderful history!
I remember part of this story, having booked to fly on Wardair between London and Calgary in 1990, but then being told that they had merged with CP Air to form Canadian. We flew on a former Wardair A310, newly repainted into Canadian colours. I recall good service and a good attitude towards customers.
CP air had already changed its name to Canadian in 1987 when it merged with Pacific Western.
That was excellent, Ruairidh! As a long time Vancouverite, it brought back some memories. Back in the early 80's I worked for a CP Airlines 747 Captain who flew constantly to Honolulu. Back then, CP had the only 747 Simulator on the west coast; a big square windowless building just a couple hundred feet north of Grant McConachie Way. It was in use almost 24/7 and other airlines had to pay $300 for the privilege. I got to fly it one evening, and somehow got back onto the runway, though I burnt the brakes out in the process ...
The CN/CP duopoly for Canadian transport has to be the wonkiest of the bunch for North America. Ferries, planes, trains, and even trucking at one point or another had their hands on it trying to out-Canada each other with how much potash and grain they could haul from coast to coast. Then you had BCRail, which got eaten by CN and actually had their BC offices raided by provincial government due to... lets just say, "leveraging" tactics utilized by the crown company for its purchase.
The orange livery is one of the best liveries of any airline anywhere IMO. Even on the ground the livery conveyed the sense that the aircraft was about to take flight. It was brilliant! Some of these new startup Canadian airlines should look into buying the rights to the CP brand and livery (looking at you Flair airlines with your ugly neon green livery)
In it's heyday Canadian had much better service than Air Canada. It was no contest. I can remember flying from Toronto to Montreal on a morning flight with Canadian in the early '80's and being served a full hot breakfast (eggs, sausage, home fries, toast , jam , juice and coffee) served on china on a white table cloth in economy! This was on a one hour flight!
Canadian didn’t start up until 1987…
It would have been CP Air, not Canadian, in the early '80s. Canadian wasn't created until 1987 when Pacific Western acquired CP Air. And white tablecloth probable in first or business class but never in economy. I worked for CP Air and Canadian for 25 years from 1969 to 1994.
I recall that Wardair had real china, silver and crystal meal service. That must have added quite a bit of dry weight to the aircraft.
CP air and later Canadian were destroyed by the the Canadian government financially by Air Canada after the sale of Air Canada where the company kept the proceeds of the sale of Air Canada and predatoy priced the whole airline industry into bankruptcy including themselves .
The federal Government of Canada allowed air Canada onto the Paciific routes which was the final nail in Canadians Coffin . Another proud moment in Canadian history .
They were an amazing airline I way lucky to fly on there DC 10 s across the pond great memories
Aviation: It's a hell of a business. So many ups and downs.
I think the fact that most banks are willing to lend to aircraft lessors more than to airlines a pretty good sign that the airline industry sucks. Richard Branson said as much: How do you become a millionaire: Easy, start with a billion dollars and found an airline, you'll be a millionaire in no time.
@@felixmarseille6905 Howard Hughes was one of the most important aviation pioneers of the 20th cent.💓🌹❤✈
LOL!😊
@@felixmarseille6905 Hahaha!☺
Even more so when your competitor is government-backed
very absorbing for me as i flew AC dc8 cross atlantic and many yrs later CP dc10 to hawaii, many thanks : )
Very well researched and presented. As a former Wardair employee (from November 1980-Canadian Airlines aquisition), it would be great if you told Wardair's story.
Nicely put together, thank you! Two notes:
Firstly, of all the acquisitions, the Wardair merger was the one most profoundly felt "on the ground", if you will, in Western Canada, as it was the carrier most people had personal experience with, typically via Wardair's direct routes to Hawaii and other "sun" spots.
Secondly, I doubt you'll ever run into this again, but just in case... it's really un-obvious because of the english "The" in front, but "Pas" is the French word for step, so the "s" is silent, ergo the town name is pronounced as "the paw" in English. (Francophones here call it "Le pas".)
Source: I've lived in Manitoba for almost half a century, and have multiple clients & friends in and/or from The Pas and environs.
In addition Grants name is pronounced “McConakey”… Not McConahay… Iqaluit is also pronounced - “Icalooit”…
I remember traveling to the Netherlands as a kid through Toronto. We flew Martin Air at the time, but I remember seeing the Orange CP Air livery several times, including the 747. I really loved the look of those planes. I wanted to fly on CP Air because of how much I liked how they looked but never had the chance.
Thank you for making this video.
CP Air flew to Schiphol at the time, with DC-8s, DC-10s and 747s. You may have even seen them there…
That might be true, but nothing pops out for me. I remember you could go onto the roof and look around at the various planes. If it was there I probably saw it, but everything was exciting to look at. I definitely remember seeing them in Toronto though.
@@pjotrtje0NL I remember that very well. CPAir had a hard time competing with Wardair at one point on flights from Amsterdam to Canada due to the latter's superior service. It was nice seeing orange CP planes though the new colours in 1987 were professional as well.
@@michaelvandenbergh6882 liked the orange c/s much, much better actually - but hey, different tastes! Remember seeing the 747s on their way to Pakistan with the PIA DC-10s going to Canada. My first PIA DC-10s, never to be seen as such again 😉
@@pjotrtje0NL thank you for your message. I heard CPAir was not impressed with the strong food odours in the pantry. Pakistani food is stronger than Canadian food. 😉😉😉 I heard CPAir had to fumigate the pantries until the odours were gone.
Good grief, who can forget the "Roach-Coach" and the gravity DC-10 ?
I loved CP and still miss them. I have been a few times on the Empress of Rome
DC-8 on its YVR-AMS run. Brilliant staff, always.
My first ever trip to Vancouver in 1976 was on CP Air.
From WWII until it closed thanks to Stan Hellier my father was a Shop Foreman with CPA in the electrical hanger at the Lincoln Park Repair Depot. If he had to go in on a Saturday he'd take me to work. I got to play in Sabre jets, DC-3, DC-6, and Northstars. I could never figure out how the pilot flew a DC-3 with the nose blocking your forward vision until I saw one take off then I knew. Can you imagine that happening today??? This was in 1956, things were much slacker then.
Nicely researched and presented! A great trip down memory lane :-)
As a former employee of Wardair, then Canadian, then Air Canada, I hope you will consider doing a story on Wardair - it was a highly respected company, beloved by everyone who flew it :-)
Wardair was special....great memories.
Flown CP Air, Wardair and Canadian many times as a kid. Great airlines. And a great video. Thanks for posting. And yes, Orange is beautiful.
I flew on a CP Air 747 from Vancouver to Honolulu and back in 1981.
Another classic, Mr MacVeigh. Ten out of ten.
Thank you for researching and preparing this video. Flew CP Air / Canadian many times. Crossed Canada many times while working for a company that required employees to fly Canadian if they serviced the destination. Canadian's level of service was that much better than the other guys. I might even still have my Canadian Plus card. My first long-distance flight was CP Air - Calgary to Amserdam. So exciting for a 12-year-old. Then 11 years later, I flew CP Air Vancouver to Lima to start a 2-month South American adventure. So lots of good memories.
Happy memories of flying the CP Air 747-200 Toronto>Vancouver return. A real thrill for a teenager in the 70's...
CP Air livery was really very striking and still is today
The first airline I ever flew on as a 4 year old. Still have a soft spot for CP Air.
Very interesting stuff.
I had NO idea how Canadian Airlines/CP Air began.
Thank you.
☮
Late 80's flying with CP from Amsterdam over the Pole to Edmonton was one flight I was stuck to the window almost all of the way. That was a sight to behold. Legendary.
Hi, Ruairidh thanks for a great video. It was very reminiscent in some ways, of the takeovers and mergers of airlines here in Australia a few years back. There was much turmoil, to say the least.
I believe a video, in your style, on the rise and fall of Ansett Australia would be very well received by your followers. Cheers, and thank you for your fine work.
Ansett Australia was bought out by Air New Zealand, which did not have the capital base to fund the disastrous deferred maintenance on Jet fleet and arrogant Australian attitude to being swallowed by smaller Air New Zealand, which was much more efficiently run. As well as aggressive tactics by Qantas which lead to a financial crisis. In the upshot, Ansett collapsed in a big way. Nearly took Air New Zealand with it. Would make a good video.... but you would have to get both sides. Some parochialism here !!
I enjoyed travelling on CP Air and its' various re-incarnations. I was aboard the inaugural Canadian Airlines International flight ex YYZ to MDW [Chicago Midway International Airport]. I forget the year. However, their service was excellent, particularly on their B-747 flights [first-class on the upper deck] ex YVR to AKL and SYD.
CP Air to SYD, wow, good one.
These are superb uploads, so absorbing and informative I tingle when I spot your channel in my notes, best wishes 📚🙏💯
This is a one-of-a-kind channel. Your research, wealth of information and delivery is among the very best of YT.
Rory is an internet treasure and we appreciate you and your hard work immensly.
Aunt Barbara adores you!
Great recap of the history of airlines in Canada, one note is that ONEX did start their own airline in the end Westjet which I think is the only real competitor to Air Canada today.
ONEX did not start their own airline. WestJet was founded by a group of businessmen in Calgary in 1994 and was purchased by ONEX in May 2019.
Well-researched and well-explained. It is sad CAI is no longer with us. As the National Post said in 1999: despite their good intentions, CAI is a company that should never have been as the different corporate cultures in the airline were never overcome.
CP Air was an outstanding airline. Their first-class service was unparalleled and the same can be said for Empress Class too. I so wish they could have survived. Just the best ever!
I remember taking a CPAir stretch DC-8 before there were a lot of 747's in operation.
When listing the home towns of the little airlines bought up, Its not '"The pas" Manitoba Its pronounced "The Paw" (as in bear paw) but spelled P-A-S
I really do like what you make such incredible videos on your channel. Especially the history of what you mentioned. 😄
One thing I feel that needs to be added, was the impact Westjet had on the domestic market. Canadian was hit hard by that in the west, with Air Canada starting to feel it in the east as Westjet grew. Canadian’s demise seems to have been cemented up once Westjet came into the market.
A couple of small errors, but otherwise fairly accurate. Nordair wasn't the only Quebec-based carrier that CP purchased. In 1986, CP purchased Nordairs rival, Quebecair from the Quebec government. The Canadi>n Airlines "Chevron" was not derived from the CP Air "Motionmark" that was introduced in the early 1960's. Rather, it was a simplified version of PWA's final wing logo. The Chevron, or Wing, was placed over CP's 5 stripes. The official description of the logo was "Wings over 5 continents". It was also a subtle hint of PWA Corp taking over CP. The Canadi>n Airlines livery was based off of the recently introduced final CP livery. It was chosen, partially due to the number of Wide-bodied CP aircraft that had already been repainted, and to have some familiarity when those aircraft were flying internationally. The Chevron logo was also used in the new companies' wordmark, and replaced the last "a" in english language "Canadian", and the "e'" in french language "Canadien". This was a brilliantly clever way to be able to make the wordmark instantly bilingual. The chevron logo was designed in-house, quickly after the takeover. Canadi>n Airlines International was the formal name for the carrier, and was specifically chosen due to the arrangement of its initials. C.I.A. was not a desirable abbreviation, for obvious reasons! Also, the image used in the description of Canadi>n North is incorrect. That image, with its Polar Bear and Aurora Borealis stripes, is from the airline becoming independent from Canadi>n. It was purchased by Air Norterra. The original Canadi>n North subsidiary of Canadi>n Airlines wore both the Chevron and Proud Wings livery, before being sold. Canadi>n Regional was the renaming of Time Air, the year after its 25th Anniversary, which was then merged with Ontario Express to form the national regional brand of the parent company. Rik Barry- Chairman of the Time Air Historical Society. Our mission is to preserve the history of the Canadi>n Airlines story, and the many airlines that helped form the company (www.youtube.com/@timeairhistoricalsociety)
As far as customer service was concerned, definitely the better of the two airlines and it was a sad day when it got 'swallowed up.' When it comes to customer service the 'other lot' (no apologies for not being able to say its name) don't seem to understand who provides funds for their salaries.
At least we now have Westjet providing some degree of competition.
I flew CP Air in a DC 8 super 63 from Sydney to Vancouver in 1979, stopping at Fiji and Hawaii.
I flew cp from HNL to Vancouver to Toronto to London many years ago !
That casual mention of Empress of Ireland was aggressively British.
I started with CP in 1984 and then Canadian then Air Canada worked 34 years but have to say CP was 100% class as was Canadian best company and people EVER the best part of my life
I flew with Canadian Airlines in 1994, Business Class. London to Vancouver, The one aspect I still remember was the outstanding personal service, second to none and over the years I’ve used countless airlines.
Great Detail. Thank You
Flew on the Super DC-8 of CP Air from Amsterdam to Montreal around 1970.
Great memories! Now all we have is AC and Westjet - and Westjet is more of a boosted up regional operator. By the way, Iqaluit is pronounced more like Ick-kal-oo-weet.
That early 2000s Air Canada livery had a very dark/ rifle green tail, commonly mistaken for black in photos.
Very interesting.
Thank you.
I flew CP Air on the DC8 as well as their 737's - good airline.
Please do one of your great airline videos on Cyprus Airways (the original rather than the current one). There's a great story in there!
I remember seeing CP Air aircraft fly over me near Pearson International Airport whenever I visited my extended family in Toronto. I miss those Pac-Man-esque tails of those planes.
I remember CP.
I feel an urge to play transport tycoon now
I always really liked the goose livery if Canadian Airlines. Air Canada should put that on some special liveries.
Great Vid!!
Best airline Canada ever had same as Wardair . That CPAir DC8 is the same plane we took to Hawaii
CP Air was awesome. Back then, Air Canada was a crown corporation with employees that had no use for customers.
I just subscribed to your channel.
A few minor errors. Last syllable of longtime president Grant McConachie's last name was pronounced "key", not "hay". CP never served French Polynesia. They served Fiji as a stop between Hawaii and Australia/New Zealand. They didn't operate the DC-8-61. Their "stretched" DC-8s were the longer range DC-8-63. They never served Indonesia. They served Manila and Bangkok briefly as extensions beyond Hong Kong. The deal to exchange the 4 747-200s for Pakistan International Airlines DC-10-30s involved 4 PIA DC-10s, not 5. And what you refer to as "black" in the Air Canada livery at the time of their takeover of Canadian Airlines was dark green, not black (the tail). It sometimes looked black in photos.
Ah yes. The airline that had the first supersonic flight
One Tidbit: in 1998, Canadian North was purchased by an Inuit investment group based in Iqaluit, and it's corporate bases were moved as such, they survived the Air Canada takeover and took over the "MPE" ICAO Code and "Empress" Callsign, in 2019, Canadian North had a reverse merger with First Air who took over the Ottawa bases in 1998, and eventually adopted the First Air livery while keeping the moniker.
In 2020, CP Air officially ceased to exist, as Canadian North changed it's ICAO Code to AKT and it's callsign to "Arctic" ending the official remnants of CP Air altogether.
if you're doing the history of second flag carriers, may i suggest British Caledonian (UK) and Trans World (USA)?
I highly recommend the book Bush Pilot with a Briefcase.
Crazy to see the difference in the success of CP Air vs the government forced failure of rail-owned airlines in the US like Santa Fe Airways.
CP RAil started in Saint John, New Brunswick and Saint John was the terminus for CP Ships.
Well, yes and no. Canadian Pacific also served Halifax, and CP ships also called there - ship to Halifax, CP train to DIgby, ferry to Saint John, then back onto the train for points west.
@@eatonjask And now CP Rail is coming back to Saint John with the Irving owned New Brunswick Southern Railway, who took over the CP lines when they left. The Port of Saint John is rebuilding the Westside dock with DP World and when fiinshed they will bring in 3 very large container cranes, Saint John is the 3rd busiest port in Canada now behind Vancouver and Halifax. And it's a day closer to the big markets in Canada and the United States than Halifax is.
"State supported" Air Canada? It was state-owned, not just 'state supported'.
And privatized in 1988.
I remember my national airline PIA exchanged it's four dc10s for the only 747s CP air had Alhamdulilah
Can you do a documentary on Cargojet Airways????
Hey guys, listen!
BIG NEWS: Canadian Airlines International, and before it, CP Air's railway parent had merged recentley with Kansas City Southern to form the biggest railway in the entire North America continent! CN is not amused.
A bit to continue to that. After canadian air disappeared. Westjet emerged and is doing very well.
Before even watching this I know why this airline failed (emphasis on CP)
I thought it was epstiens airline at first.
LOL
Can you do history of cayman airways
Always Loved Cayman!🏝
Gawd, how unlucky were they? Every time they invest in infrastructure for a new market, a new world event kicks them in the teeth!
This has to get a like just for the use of a Chambré Hardman photo. 4:08
CP .CAIL is so so missed !
"O Canada" 🍁
quelle dommage :(
I flew both Air Csnada snd Canadian. Both fairly decent airlines, but not spectacular. Have a hard time imagining either airline being like Pan Am or TWA.
Also the worlds most unfortunately named airline
how the ultimate Air Canada monopoly received approval by the committee formed for the specific purpose of monopoly busting is simply bizarre ...
35% of Indonesia's GDP is due to rubber exports to Canadian Government Regulatory Agencies. For the stamps.
Air Canada - MWAHAAAHA, we bought canadian, Now we have all control of air service mwwahahaha
- Westjet enters the chat
FYI the Pas is pronounced "the Paw"
CP Air/Canadian Pacific Arlines ceased to exist in 1987. You should correct your written synopsis under the video where you state they were the rival of Air Canada from 1942 to 2001. As well your video gives the impression the company was still in force as part of Canadian Airlines from the 14 min mark onwards.
I beg to differ with you ! I was VP of an IATA registered aviation ground handling company in Bangkok, Thailand and we handled CP Air flights throughout the 1990s - in fact, their Airport Manager was our VP Ops for a few years from 1997. in 1997, IATA Ground Handling Council, of which I was a Vice Chairman, held their Annual meeting at the YVR Sheraton - this meeting was in the news as it was the victim of a Mass robbery when the Indian staff turned out to be a gang of thieves - they stole everyone's laptop computers/calculators, causing the meeting to run till midnight due to the huge delay when the robbery was first discovered. None of the electronics stolen was every recovered - and was a huge embarrassment to the Canadian aviation companies charged with running this meeting!!
@@DerrickWindsor CP Air was sold to Pacific Western Airlines in 1987 and the combined airline was renamed Canadian International Airlines up until that was bought by Air Canada in 1999
Thanks for the correction ! After I left them in 1978 I didn't keep up with CP related news, but the same idiots running the show were still there when I chaired an IATA Ground Handling Council meeting in Vancouver 1996 - of that I am 100% sure as I spoke to one of the "bosses" - an idiot named John Callaghan who was particularly obnoxious!! Anyway - ancient history.
Adult me: its a good and very understandable name.
Child me: haha funny air.
The Pas. Is pronounced The Pah
What if: what if, the designers changed the Britannias wings and engines, and made them swept back and installed jet engines…
With hindsight, you have to wonder at the logic of a railway buying airlines… airlines that harmed the railways in the long term.
A business that is afraid of disrupting itself is potentially doomed as someone else will do it instead. Kodak developed the first Digital Camera in 1975. They didn't want to risk canabalizing their film business. At best they delayed Digital photography.
With now some railways harming airlines with high speed trains in some areas, it comes full circle
A sad day when AC bought Canadian … then went into bankruptcy protection soon after which is ridiculous. Buy out your only true competitor then running to the state for protection 🙄
CP Air and Canadian Airlines were far better than Air Canada. They provided great service and nicest crew.
CP Air 💀
Epstein’s jet
Crimes💯 EPA Corruption! Bid & Contract Fraud Secrets🥲
Oh gawd, Rory ........ PLEASE investigate PUNCTUATION ..... PLEEZ break up up your sentences into "bite-size" pieces. I am trying to enjoy this video, but my poor head is trying to absorb ...... well, fer ferq sake ..... please slow down before some obscure British university gives you an award for longest ever ..... well, please stop it.
Quite a few words are mispronounced, among them 'The Pass', which is pronounced 'Da Paa'. The plummy British accent is also off-putting.