The RJ order was no rumour, EMB/Bombardier have been having a series = of=20 bake-offs for nearly a half-year, mostly since AC announced their= =20 intention in May or so to go heavily RJ with a good number of their= =20 current and future domestic and trans-border routes. I would disagree on the WestJet longer route opinion. WestJet has bee= n=20 squeezing AC and their Zip brand on numerous smaller routes across th= e=20 country, but AC still owns the long-haul. If you want to connect through the international gateways YYZ/YUL/YVR= =20 you have no choice but to make AC your airline. And AC is setting themselves up very nicely to do US->Europe and=20 US->Asia flights through YVR and YYZ. They have better geographically= =20 positioned gateways, the advantage of flight timing and then some. If you live in Portland, would you want to fly to SFO or YVR to conne= ct=20 to Narita? If you live in New Orleans, would you want to connect in Y= YZ=20 or ATL to head across the pond? Milton and his buddies may not have made a lot of friends, but they= =20 aren't complete morons. ;-) Matthew On Dec 21, 2003, at 1:15 PM, Michael A. Burris wrote: > AIRLINE: > > This must have been what someone thought about AC purchasing B747's= . > I have heard of no 'official' word on them, so it must have been th= ese > smaller, CRJ's that was the rumor. > > This is proof that AC is focusing its efforts on the smaller market= s > since it can't seem to win against WestJet on the longer routes. > > Mike Burris > Cambridge, Mass USA > > > >> Anyone take notice of Air Canada's 90 firm-jet order. >> >> This announcement was supposed to be a joint Star Alliance order, = but >> AC reportedly had a desire to complete negotiations earlier. >> >> It's split between a number of: >> >> - CRJ-200's >> - CRJ-705s >> - EMB190's >> >> Are all of these going to the mainline, or Jazz? >> >> What's the diff between the 700 and 705? >> >> Supposedly Boeing was in this running with their stubby 717. >> >> There was a Mr. RJ on the list who probably knows =8F=08iZanswers = off the >> back of their hand. >> >> Matthew >