Airline review: Air Canada

Air Canada is the largest airline in Canada. As the aircraft nerd I am I like always pay attention to which kind of aircraft it is, how the interior looks, how the service is and things like that when I travel. Of course I also pick flights according to which airline and which aircraft that is flying on the route if possible. My latest travel experience with Air Canada happened last weekend when I flew home to Stockholm from San Antonio in Texas so I want to share my experience flying their Boeing 777 (one of my favorite aircrafts) and Embarer 190 but to add in some luxury I also want to share my business class experience with their A330 that took place during new years from Amsterdam to Toronto. So let the story begin.

Embarer 190: Business class

The Embarer is a pretty small aircraft with only 93 seats. 3 rows of business class and the rest in economy. I had the opportunity to try out the business class. The interior was old but very comfortable. The feeling was like sitting at the couch at grandmas. It was a 3,5 hours flight from San Antonio in Texas to Toronto in Canada so it was great to stretch the legs.

Air Canada served a hot meal on the flight and while eating you could enjoy a fairly good assortment of movies but unfortunately the quality of the screens were very poor so it was difficult to watch. So I flipped pages in my book instead.

The seating was 2-1 so plenty of space. Although the old seats were comfortable some maintenance would be needed. The arm caps were very unstable and when putting the glas of wine at the table you more or less had to hold on to it in order to not get red wine all over yourself. But a big plus to the comfy seats.

Airbus A330: Business Class

This journey I was not trying the business class at Air Canada but so I did during new years last year when flying Air Canada’s A330 from Amsterdam to Toronto. The layout in the cabin was very unique. It is called “fishbone” and it felt weird. Me and my travel partner were facing each other and when we were talking we had to scream due to the distance. Maybe solo travelers like it more but for a social trip it was not five star. Probably the engineers had a creative and fun time when making the design.

The food was good though. Pasta as always for me. We got two servings of meals during this day flight. First a three course lunch after takeoff followed by a dinner just before landing. In between the meals there were plenty of time to watch movies but the IFE system was not working that good at my place so I had to switch seat. The flight crew were tough wonderful and it was the last flight for the purser who was going to retire so it was a general happy feeling onboard. This was the old design of Air Canada’s business class. If you fly with their Boeing 777 aircrafts you will find a much more modern interior. I hope I will be able to do that at one point.

Boeing 777: Economy Class

I was a super duper lucky version of myself when I got the very last seat in the very last minute on the 777 flight from Toronto to Frankfurt late on Saturday night. It was a middle seat on row 20 in a 3-4-3 config but it was all okey. I never felt squeezed in. I also like the B/E seats that are installed in AC’s B777. They are simple but with a good design. The seat cushion was a bit hard but I have had worse experiences. A big plus also to the IFE system. The screens were of great quality here compared to the Embarer and the assortment of entertainment aswell. There were also both plugs and USB chargers with every seat. Perfect in the digital world.

During the 6 hour flight we also got food. Twice. First dinner that was pasta and pasta sauce followed by breakfast that was a cake. The pasta was good. Actually my favorite airline food is pasta and I had not been eating since breakfast so I might not be objective but I liked it.

Here are some sleepy fellow passengers. It was a short night flight and I think it was a bit interesting that the route was not over Greenland and more straight since it almost always is over Greenland when flying to Europe from North America.

That was the summary of my impressions as a customer of Air Canada. Definitely an airline from the Star alliance group I will fly with again and hopefully in Business class at their B777. Air Canada has several flights from Toronto to the Caribbean so definitely a great chance to make a stop over in Toronto aswell and maybe check out nearby Niagara falls if you have not seen it yet. Have you been flying with Air Canada? How was your experience?

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(Sorry for the poor quality of pics.)

/ Pernilla the flight rater