Trip Report: Air Canada Cross-Country 787 – Hits and Misses

After 3 days of raw aviation mega fun on the C-46 and L188 Electra with Buffalo Airways at Yellowknife, Canada. I flew out on Air Canada CRJ900 and arrived in the city of calgary.

The price of airfare from Yellowknife is high. The last-minute airfare can be over a thousand dollars.

I redeemed 28,800 United miles for Air Canada domestic business class from Yellowknife to Montreal. The international product is offered by B787-9.

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Yellowknife to Calgary

The Air Canada Express CRJ-900 has a business class product with 4 rows of seating. The economy is behind in two different configurations. The leg room is small. There is an IFE screen, foot rest, and power outlet. You can see what I have to say in my video.

Transport Canada requires masks to be worn inside airplanes in Canada.

The flight from Yellowknife toCalgary took less than two hours. The summer landscape of Northern Canada was large.

A hot meal was offered on the flight.

I spent the night at calgary as connections are poor.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Calgary

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge is located at the airport. Domestic Business Class passengers can use the Air Canada lounge even if they are not club members.

There is a good selection of food at the lounge. It is better than most domestic lounges in the U.S.

Air Canada B787-9 to Montreal

There was a delay of about 50 minutes due to being late. Out of Montreal and Toronto, there are flight delays. It seems that the city of calgary is not affected. It took 10 minutes for the security lane to open.

There is a black eye mask on the B787-9.

Air Canada has a fleet of B787-9 and B787-8.

The Air Canada B787 is one of the long haul fleets that has individual aisle access.

All announcements from Air Canada include English and French.

I shared my Buffalo Airway Yellowknife trip story with the 2 pilots after visiting the cockpit. The flight took 3 hours 20 minutes with a climb to 37,000 ft and a cruise at 39,000 ft.

I was surprised to see the domestic flight menu.

The meal was ordered and eaten. It feels like this is an international flight. The service on the B787 is more detailed than on the CRJ-900.

The meals are in premium economy. Chicken tagine was one of the choices.

Economy class had no free food.

There is a plan for Air Canada to offer wi-fi.

I slept for an hour after trying out the flatbed. The table is on top of my leg, but it was not uncomfortable. You need to watch out when you fall asleep.

There was no problem landing in Montreal. We arrived 40 minutes late as we were held on the tarmac waiting for another plane to leave.

My Thoughts

It was a pleasure to fly a widebody international configuration on a domestic flight. There are issues with aviation in Canada.

1. The service is better than most U.S. Carriers. but the airfares are higher. I was redeeming miles to fly for better value. The domestic airfare within Canada is sometimes higher than flights to Europe!
2. Air Canada did not provide refunds for canceled flights during the pandemic. Given the current high airfare and inflation, those voucher value is unlikely to hold.
3. Manpower shortage issues at the airport causing flight delays. This turns out to be a blame game between airports, airlines and security companies. The delay problem is worst in Montreal and Toronto.

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