Trans-Canada Air Lines (also known as TCA in English, and Trans-Canada in French) was a Canadian

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

that operated as the country's

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by that government for international operations. Histo ...

, with corporate headquarters in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. Its first president was Gordon Roy McGregor. Founded in 1937, it was renamed

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

in 1965.

History

With heavy involvement from C. D. Howe, a senior minister in the

Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...

cabinet, TCA was created by the

Crown Corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

(CNR), and launched its first flight on 1 September 1937, on a flight between

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. An air-mail contract with Royal Mail Canada was one of the methods by which TCA was financed. Lockheed 14

The creation of TCA was partly by CNR management who wanted to expand the company into the new field of passenger aviation, and was partly by government direction. Prior to TCA, no large national airline existed in Canada. With war looming, and other nations (primarily the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

) experiencing major increases in the creation of passenger airlines, it was necessary to have a presence. The CNR was the country's largest corporation at the time and proved an effective vehicle for the government to create a national airline. TCA was also in direct competition with passenger trains operated by parent CNR, and contributed to the decline of passenger rail service as Canada entered the pioneering years of air travel. In response to CNR's creation of TCA, arch-rival

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

created

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia, ...

in 1942. Between 1943 and 1947, TCA operated the Canadian Government Trans-Atlantic Air Service (CGTAS) to provide trans-Atlantic military passenger and postal delivery service using

Avro Lancastrian The Avro 691 Lancastrian was a British and Canadian passenger and mail transport aircraft of the 1940s and 1950s developed from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. The Lancastrian was basically a modified Lancaster bomber without armour or arma ...

(modified

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

) aircraft. The record crossing was completed non-stop in 12:26 hours; the average was about 13:25 hours. CGTAS ushered in the era of commercial air travel across the North Atlantic. After the war, the Lancastrians became part of TCA and carried paying civilian passengers until they were replaced by

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

Postwar

Trans Canada Airlines North Star Heathrow 1951

Starting in 1945, TCA acquired 30 twin-engined ex-military

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

s for use on Canadian internal services and some of these remained in service until 1963 on shorter routes. A fleet of

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

-powered

Canadair North Star The Canadair North Star is a 1940s Canadian development, for Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA), of the Douglas DC-4. Instead of radial piston engines used by the Douglas design, Canadair used Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 engines to achieve a higher cruis ...

s was delivered from 1947 and these commenced services to several European countries, including the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and to cities in the U.S. The last of the North Stars was sold in 1961. Air Canada Airbus 319 in Trans Canada Airlines colours

The

s were gradually replaced by longer range

Lockheed Super Constellation The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The aircraft was colloquially referred to as the Super Connie. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC ...

s from 1954 onwards, fourteen being operated on transatlantic routes extending as far as

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in Austria; also to

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

and several

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

destinations including

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. The last Super Constellations were disposed of in 1963. A large fleet of

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. T ...

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

airliners was built up from late 1954 and these were used on many intra-North American routes. The Viscount was followed by the larger Vickers Vanguard turboprop. TCA was the only airline in North America to operate the Vanguard in scheduled passenger service. In 1953 with the development of ReserVec (originally called Gemini), TCA became the first airline in the world to use a

computer reservation system Computer reservation systems, or central reservation systems (CRS), are computerized systems used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel, hotels, car rental, or other activities. Originally designed and ope ...

with remote terminals. The airline's Winnipeg maintenance shops and its first trial flight of the Viscount was documented in the 1955 film, '' Routine Flight''. The airline acquired a fleet of

Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USA ...

jet airliners powered by

Rolls-Royce Conway The Rolls-Royce RB.80 Conway was the first turbofan jet engine to enter service. Development started at Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce in the 1940s, but the design was used only briefly, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, before other turbof ...

s, the first being received on 25 May 1960. The DC-8 quickly replaced the slower Super Constellations on TCA's scheduled services to Europe.

Changes

In 1964, an Act of Parliament proposed by

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

changed the name of Trans-Canada Air Lines to "

", which was already in use as the airline's French-language name, effective 1 January 1965. In 1978, Air Canada was divested by parent CNR and became a separate Crown corporation. Air Canada was

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

in 1989.

Corporate affairs

The headquarters were in the International Aviation Building in Montreal.

Destinations

TCA operated a network of 160 routes to destinations including: * St. John's, Newfoundland * Stephenville, Newfoundland * Gander, Newfoundland * Halifax, Nova Scotia * Sydney, Nova Scotia * Fredericton, New Brunswick * Victoria, British Columbia * Vancouver, British Columbia * Penticton, British Columbia * Boston, Massachusetts * New York City, New York * Winnipeg, Manitoba * Brandon, Manitoba * Calgary, Alberta * Chicago, Illinois * Cleveland, Ohio * Edmonton, Alberta * Lethbridge, Alberta * Montreal, Quebec * Ottawa, Ontario * London, Ontario * Tampa, Florida * Toronto, Ontario * Detroit (Windsor) * Seattle, Washington * London, England * Paris, France * Prestwick, Scotland * Shannon, Ireland * Düsseldorf, Germany * St. George's Parish, Bermuda * Nassau, Bahamas * Kingston, Jamaica * Christ Church, Barbados * Piarco, Trinidad

Fleet

Aircraft on display

One former TCA Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation (CF-TGE), has been preserved by The Museum of Flight in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. It is currently on display at the museum's "Airpark" attraction. A former TCA

(CF-THG) is on display at the British Columbia Aviation Museum in

Sidney, British Columbia Sidney is a town located at the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula, on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. It is one of the thirteen Greater Victoria municipalities. It has a population of approximately 11,583. Sidney ...

. The aircraft has been completely refurbished by the museum. A former TCA and Transair operated Vickers Viscount 744 (CF-TGI / N22SN) is on display at the

Pima Air & Space Museum The Pima Air & Space Museum is an aerospace museum in Tucson, Arizona, US. It features a display of nearly 400 aircraft spread out over on a campus occupying . It has also been the home to the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame since 1991. Overv ...

in Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Accidents and incidents

Trans-Canada Air Lines had 13 aircraft accidents resulting in hull losses, with a total of 248 fatalities, between 1938 and 1963. These included:"List of Trans-Canada Air Lines accidents"
''Aviation Safety Network''. Retrieved: 13 January 2011.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Blatherwick, John. ''A History of Airlines in Canada''. Toronto: The Unitrade Press, 1989. . * Bliss, Michael. ''Northern Enterprise: Five Centuries of Canadian Business''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1994, 1990, First edition 1987. . * Harbron, John D. ''C.D. Howe'' (The Canadians). Don Mills, Ontario: Fitzhaven and Whiteside Limited, 1980. . * Marson, P.J. ''The Lockheed Constellation Series''. Tunbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1982. . * Pigott, Peter. ''National Treasure: The History of Trans Canada Airlines''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2001. . * Render, Shirley. ''Double Cross: The Inside Story of James A. Richardson and the Canadian Airways''. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1999. . * Smith, Philip. ''It Seems Like Only Yesterday: Air Canada, the First 50 Years''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1986. . * Whittle, John A. et al. ''The Douglas DC-4 and Canadair 4''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1967.

External links

{{authority control Aviation history of Canada Defunct airlines of Canada Airlines established in 1937 Airlines disestablished in 1964 Air Canada Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame inductees Former Crown corporations of Canada Canadian National Railway subsidiaries Canadian companies established in 1937 1937 establishments in Quebec 1964 establishments in Quebec Government-owned airlines