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Business & Economics Corporate & Business History

Air Canada

The History

by (author) Peter Pigott

Publisher
Dundurn Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2014
Category
Corporate & Business History, Transportation, History
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781459719521
    Publish Date
    Mar 2014
    List Price
    $35.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781459719545
    Publish Date
    Mar 2014
    List Price
    $9.99

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Description

Begun as a social experiment in 1937, Air Canada has evolved into one of the world’s greatest airlines.

Air Canada: The History explores a modern miracle that has made commercial air travel in our country an everyday occurrence. The airline was born in 1937 as "Trans Canada Airlines," a ward of the Canadian National Railway. Renamed "Air Canada" in 1964 to reflect its status as a jet-age airline, it survived devastating air crashes, financial deficits, self-serving politicians, strikes, privatization, and the Airbus scandal.
It was reviled in the nineties by the likes of Peter Newman, who joked, "If God had meant Man to fly, he wouldn’t have invented Air Canada." Today it is a much loved national icon. Fortunate at times to be run by great CEOs like Gordon McGregor and Claude Taylor, Air Canada has fought off a hostile takeover, merged with its arch-rival Canadian Airlines, and touched countless lives during its 75-year history.
This is its story.

 

About the author

As the son of an airline employee, Peter Pigott grew up at the edge of airports around the world, including Santa Cruz, Bombay, London and Montreal. He attended the University of Montreal Teacher's College (B.Ed.) and Loyola College in Montreal (B.A.). and then went on to receive a M.A. from the University of Vermont in Burlington USA and a diploma in history at Oxford University in England.

Pigott joined the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1978 and has served at embassies in New York, Hong Kong, Vienna and The Hague. He returned to Ottawa in 1993 and began his writing career, specializing in books about aviation.

Also by Peter Pigott: The Official History of Aviation in Hong Kong, Flying Canucks! Famous Canadian Aviators, Hong Kong Rising: The History of a Remarkable Place, Gateways: Airports of Canada, Flying Colours: Commercial Aviation in Canada, Flying Canucks II: Famous Canadian Aviators

Peter Pigott's profile page

Editorial Reviews

Aviation and history buffs (as well as past and present Air Canada employees) will enjoy Air Canada: The History. It’s well-illustrated, with plenty of archival photographs that tell a fascinating story of both the airline and Canada.

Winnipeg Free Press