I've flown both to Asia, and across Canada, and Canadian to South America. It's really 6 of one, half dozen of the other. AC had nicer seats on "Executive First" compared to CP's business class. I've had nice and grumpy F/As on both. I've had on-time and delays on both. I've had great trips and miserable trips on both, though my most miserable was on return from Japan on CP. Delay in Vancouver due to a late aircraft, then substitution for a non-ER 737-200 which required a tech stop in Winnipeg which meant a 5 am arrival at Montreal, instead of 8 pm, which meant busting curfew at Dorval, which meant a divert to Miserabelle. To Asia I flew YYZ-NRT non-stop on a DC10-30 in business. Horrible business class seats. Very long ride, 14 hours. I've done the same trip the other way on AC, in an A340. Guess which I preferred? To be fair, the A340s came late in the game. AC's contemporaries to the DC10s on int'l routes would be the 747s and L1011s (at least until the late '80s). Things improved on CP when they picked up the 767-300s and later the 747-400s but I never flew on a CP 747-400 (only on AC's combis, as well as Varig and BA). I can tell you one thing though: on transcon flights, CP was flying 737s non-stop YUL-YVR well into the Airbus era. Now, THAT was a miserable flight, over five and a half hours in economy. Plus, if the wind gods weren't just right, or an ER took sick and had to be replaced with a regular 737-200, a technical stop in Winnipeg. In those days I would avoid CP like the plague on YUL-YVR. For a while, even their "business class" was merely an unoccupied center seat whereas AC had a full business class seat. Those are my reminiscences. If I had to give a preference, I'd give a slight edge to AC for better equipment. CP often gave me the impression of being on a shoestring (like the 737s on transcons). Mike Gammon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael A. Burris" <yul@prodigy.net> To: <AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2003 7:36 PM Subject: Canadian Airlines International > AIRLINE: > > I'm looking for some candid opinions from members of > this list who've flown Canadian Airlines International > when it was up and running. Was the service (in > particular to the Far-East) better than on Air Canada? > > Were their lounges at the airport nicer than Air > Canada? Were the FA's nicer than at Air Canada? > What about the planes themselves? > > I'm writing a story on Air Canada and need some > background info on Canadian. In addition, can anyone > guess how many employees over all lost their jobs > because of the merger? What ever happened to Ken > Benson, former CAI, CEO? > > Thanks, > > Michael A. Burris > Cambridge, Massachusetts >