Flytrippers was invited to an Air Canada press conference in Toronto a few weeks ago, during which Canada’s largest airline announced the renewal of a significant multi-year commitment to support our country’s athletes. They also unveiled a special plane livery for the Olympics — and it’s a very cool one.
I also took the opportunity to have another of my regular discussions with the Air Canada VP responsible for the Aeroplan program, which I’ll cover in a separate post. Be sure to sign up for our special travel rewards newsletter, which is completely free (just like our regular travel newsletter).
Here are the details of the announcement and livery for the Olympics (that start today).
Overview of Air Canada’s Olympic Games Announcement
Did you know that Air Canada has been the Official Airline of the Canadian Olympic Team since 1988 and the Canadian Paralympic Team since 2007? It’s one way they give back to the community.
Here are the highlights of Air Canada’s Olympics announcement:
- Air Canada will remain Team Canada’s official airline for the long term
- For the next 4 Olympic and Paralympic Games
- Paris 2024, Milan 2026, Los Angeles 2028, French Alps 2030
- 10 Team Air Canada athlete ambassadors were named
- New athletes will be chosen each Olympic year
- All athletes automatically get 35K elite status
- Nice, but you get better benefits with premium Aeroplan cards
- Airport celebrations will take place for athletes
- Air Canada will also be present at the Canada Olympic House
- A special Olympic livery was unveiled
- The great-looking plane design was on display in the hangar
- I’ll tell you more about liveries and special liveries below
The announcement took place in a hangar at Toronto-Pearson (YYZ). The specially designed plane unveiled at the event will take the athletes to the Games. We got a preview of the video advertisement for the Olympics, and it was very popular with the audience. The embargo on that is now over, as it has been publicly released.
Air Canada’s partnership with Team Canada
Air Canada is our country’s flag carrier, which is an aviation term for the airline that best represents a country abroad — usually the most premium one and the one with the most global network.
So it’s very fitting that Air Canada should be the official airline of Team Canada.
According to Air Canada, supporting the Olympic team shows their “deep passion for sport and commitment to sharing the best of Canada with the world.”
I would add that since Air Canada is our only truly global airline, it also just makes a lot of sense. WestJet and Air Transat simply don’t have a global network, and there’s nothing more global than the Olympic Games.
Michael Rousseau, President and CEO of Air Canada, made this announcement himself at the press conference, demonstrating the importance of this partnership to the airline.
Air Canada Olympics ambassadors
The Team Air Canada athlete ambassadors were also present and made available for interviews.
I had the chance to talk to one of the athletes, 12-time Paralympic Games medallist Mark Arendz, about what he enjoyed the most about traveling through his sport.
He said that, during the various competitions, his team and he try to live as much as the locals as possible to get the most authentic experience and see how others live.
What a perfect response, and one I couldn’t agree with more, as it’s literally 1 of the 7 most important travel tips we’ve been sharing for years. It’s in our free ebook on how to travel for less because traveling like locals live is obviously more affordable… but it’s more enjoyable too, so it’s such a win-win!
The athletes will automatically receive 35K Aeroplan Elite status, which is obviously a very nice gesture and has some great benefits. But the benefits that most travelers care about are also available by simply having a premium Aeroplan card, whether it’s unlimited access to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges, priority boarding, free bags, etc.
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For Air Canada
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Annual fee: $599
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For Air Canada
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ends January 6th
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Air Canada’s special livery for the Olympics
The “livery” is the aviation term for an aircraft’s exterior design elements. AvGeeks (aviation geeks) love to geek out about airline liveries.
Every airline has a standard one of course, but most also have a few “special” liveries that are unique and fun to see.
Air Canada unveiled a special Olympic livery, and the AvGeek in me was happy to see it up close in a hangar.
Airlines, including Air Canada, are pretty selective about doing special liveries. So that means they really value this partnership with the Olympic Team.
It’s a very nice design, with the famous red Air Canada rondelle on the tail changed to gold, a clever concept as all athletes strive for the gold medal.
The side of the plane has “Go Canada Go” written on it in huge gold-colored letters.
The Team Canada logos are also on the front part of the plane.
This special livery is applied to a B777-300ER, the largest plane in Air Canada’s fleet (and the largest single-deck commercial plane in existence).
It’s absolutely massive, and it’s impressive to see from up close.
I have walked close to many narrowbody planes — also known as single-aisle aircraft — on airport tarmacs and in hangars. However, the jetbridge-less boarding, which is common outside of North America, almost never involves widebody planes, and my previous hangar visits had only narrowbodies: a 737, an A320, or an A220 (former CSeries).
Just to give you a bit of perspective, the width of this B777 engine is greater than the whole fuselage of narrowbody planes!
Air Canada special liveries
The current standard livery, which you’ve probably already seen on an Air Canada plane, was launched in 2017 to near-unanimous praise.
It’s indeed a beautiful look.
Perhaps one of the reasons all the experts like it is because the livery it replaced was so terrible that it makes the new one look even better by comparison. The atrociously ugly “toothpaste” light green one was never great and hasn’t aged well either.
But Air Canada has a few special liveries if you’re interested in these kinds of things.
A few planes carry the Star Alliance livery, as all Star Alliance members must do. That’s one of the basic membership requirements, along with being able to earn and use points on all 26 airlines in the alliance.
My favorite special livery is the beautiful Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) retro livery (that was the airline’s original name) on a stunning Canadian-built A220.
As with the Olympic livery, special designs are often created to highlight specific partnerships.
The Disney+ streaming service is available as part of Air Canada’s in-flight entertainment offer, so there have been a few special Disney liveries, such as for the Wish movie.
The previous one was for Turning Red.
Finally, since Air Canada doesn’t possess that many special liveries, the only other current one you can see in airports and in the sky is the “Congratulations” special livery, which identifies Air Canada employees who won their internal 2024 Employee Excellence awards.
Other Air Canada liveries
Occasionally, you might see planes in other liveries with the Air Canada name… but they’re not special liveries per se.
For example, a few all-black planes have the Air Canada name on them.
It’s not a special livery. It’s a special plane usually operated by an Air Canada subsidiary called Air Canada Jetz.
It’s a very cool all-business-class plane that transports sports teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens to their games. But it’s sometimes used for regular flights, as I coincidentally experienced for the first time on my way to that press conference.
Needless to say, with the Maple Leafs and Canadiens as customers, these planes are bound to be less busy at the end of the playoffs, so you are more likely to fly aboard on a regular Air Canada flight.
It was a fun experience, and I’ll share a detailed post about that unique flight soon.
Otherwise, you’ve probably already seen a red plane with Air Canada rouge written on it.
That’s Air Canada’s lower-cost subsidiary that flies on many leisure routes, the absolute opposite of an all-business-class plane.
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Summary
At a press conference in Toronto, Air Canada announced the renewal of its partnership with Team Canada until 2030 and introduced the 10 Air Canada athlete ambassadors for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The airline also unveiled a Boeing 777 with a very nicely designed special livery to transport Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
What would you like to know about Air Canada’s partnership for the Olympics? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Air Canada special livery for the Olympics (photo credit: Andrew D’Amours/Flytrippers)
