Canadian Airlines

Canadian Airlines International Ltd. was, until 2000, Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada, carrying more than 11.9 million passengers to over 160 destinations in 17 countries on five continents at its height in 1996.

Code Data

• IATA Code: CP
• ICAO Code: CDN
• Callsign: Canadian

History

Canadian Airlines International Ltd., which was the principal subsidiary of Canadian Airlines Corporation (formerly PWA Corporation), is the descendant of five predecessor airlines. On March 27 1987, Canadian Pacific Air Lines, Eastern Provincial Airways, Nordair and Pacific Western Airlines amalgamated to form the new airline.

PWA Corporation acquired Wardair in 1989, establishing Canadian as an important player in the global industry with the addition of new routes. Its major hubs were at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, Vancouver International Airport, and Calgary International Airport.

Canadian Airlines streamlined its operations and went through the financial restructuring of over $700 million in debt, after the 1991 airline industry slump.

On November 1 1996, Kevin Benson, then president and CEO, unveiled a restructuring strategy to improve the profitability of Canadian Airlines. The operational restructuring plan was supposed to be phased in over a four year period, addressing the main issues of cost control, revenue growth, capitalization and fleet renewal. It was also one of the founding members of the oneworld airline alliances, along with American Airlines and British Airways.

The plan started off well but with the Asian economic downturn 1998, air traffic decreased and Canadian was suffering on its most profitable route.

After continued poor performance, Canadian Airlines was acquired by Air Canada in 2000; numerous other proposals for survival had been considered and rejected, including a rival bid led by American Airlines to purchase Air Canada.

Canadian Airlines was headquartered in Calgary, Alberta and had sales of approximately $3 billion at the end of 1999.