View source for Canadian Pacific Air Lines

{{Short description|Defunct airline of Canada (1942–1987)}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|CP Air|California Pacific Airlines}}{{More citations needed|date=August 2025}}{{Infobox airline
| airline         = Canadian Pacific Air Lines<br />{{lang|fr|Lignes Aériennes Canadien Pacifique}}
| logo            = Canadian Pacific Air Lines.svg
| logo_size       = 250px
| fleet_size      = 
| destinations    = 
| IATA            = CP
| ICAO            = CPC
| callsign        = EMPRESS
| parent          =
| founded         = {{Start date and age|1942||}}
| ceased          = {{End date and age|1987|03|27}}<br />{{small|(merged with [[Nordair]] and [[Pacific Western Airlines]] to form [[Canadian Airlines International]])}}
| headquarters    = [[Richmond, British Columbia]]
| key_people      = [[Grant McConachie]] GM 1941-47, President 1947-65<br />[[Donald J. Carty]] CEO 1985-1987
| hubs            = {{nowrap|[[Vancouver International Airport|Vancouver]]}}
| secondary_hubs  = {{ubl|class=nowrap
  | [[Montréal–Dorval International Airport|Montréal–Dorval]]
  | [[Toronto Pearson International Airport|Toronto–Pearson]]}}
| focus_cities    = 
}}

[[Image:CP Air 737 at Whitehorse 1971.jpg|thumb|CP Air [[Boeing 737]] landing at Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada in 1971]]

'''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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cpair.blogspot.com/|title=Now boarding...|access-date=7 May 2018}}</ref> Headquartered at [[Vancouver International Airport]] in [[Richmond, British Columbia|Richmond]], [[British Columbia]],<ref>World Airline Directory ''[[Flight International]]'' March 30, 1985 [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%200931.html 71].<!--Direct link: http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1985/1985%20-%200931.PDF#navpanes=0&scrollbar=0&page=1&view=FitH,0--> Retrieved on June 17, 2009. "Head Office: One Grant McConachie Way, Vancouver International Airport, Vancouver, B.C. V7B1V1, Canada."</ref> it served domestic Canadian as well as international routes until it was purchased by [[Pacific Western Airlines]] and absorbed into [[Canadian Airlines International]].

==History==
{{redirect-distinguish|Arrow Airways|Arrow Air}}
In the early 1940s, the [[Canadian Pacific Limited|Canadian Pacific Railway Company]] purchased, in a short time span, ten bush airlines: [[Ginger Coote Airways]], [[Yukon Southern Air Transport]], Wings, Prairie Airways, Mackenzie Air Services, Arrow Airways, Starratt Airways, Quebec Airways and Montreal & Dominion Skyways finishing with the purchase of [[Canadian Airways]] in 1942, to form Canadian Pacific Air Lines.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://airlinehistory.co.uk/airline/starratt-airways/ | title = Starratt Airways | publisher = Airline History | access-date = 26 July 2020}}</ref> Early management were largely [[bush flying]] pioneers, including president [[Grant McConachie]], superintendent [[Punch Dickins]], and [[Wop May]], who would become a repair depot manager in Calgary.

In 1968, Canadian Pacific Air Lines was [[rebranding|rebranded]] as '''CP Air'''. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company (renamed Canadian Pacific Limited in 1971) had decided to align the airline's name and "[[Multimark]]" design to that of its other subsidiaries, including [[Canadian Pacific Hotels|CP Hotels]], [[CP Ships]], and CP Transport ([[Canadian Pacific|CP Rail]] was spun off from the parent company later).

===Competition with TCA===
CP Air competed with the government-owned [[Trans-Canada Air Lines]] (TCA, later [[Air Canada]]) for international and transcontinental routes for much of its history. Despite early attempts to merge into one national carrier, CP Air continued to operate routes based on its previous bush flying heritage.

The federal government established limits on domestic market share and, through international agreements, limits on which countries CP Air could fly to. This barred CP Air from the traditional routes such as [[London]] and [[Paris]] and limited their access to major Canadian routes such as [[Vancouver]]-[[Toronto]] and Toronto-[[New York City|New York]]. {{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

===Overseas and international routes===
{{Rail freight
|float=left
|title=Revenue Passenger-Kilometres, scheduled flights only, in millions
|1950|116
|1955|288
|1960|835
|1965|1648
|1969|3194
|1971|3879
|1975|6841
|1980|9329
|1985|10511
|source=ICAO Digest of Statistics for 1950-55, IATA World Air Transport Statistics 1960–2000
}}
[[File:Bristol 175 Srs 314 CF-CZW CPAL Ringway 05.07.65 edited-1.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bristol Britannia]] 314 "Empress of Rome" at [[Manchester Airport]] in 1965]]
[[File:CP Air DC-8-55 at Gatwick.jpg|thumb|A [[Douglas DC-8]] at [[Gatwick Airport]] in 1977]]
The development of the ''great circle'' or ''polar'' route to the [[Far East]] from CP Air's Vancouver base would become one of the cornerstones of the airline. Grant McConachie managed to secure flights to [[Amsterdam]], [[Australia]], [[Hong Kong]], and [[Shanghai]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hk.asia-city.com/events/article/historic-journeys|title=CPA pricelist 1949|access-date=7 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105202053/http://hk.asia-city.com/events/article/historic-journeys|archive-date=5 November 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> which helped the airline's revenue grow from $3 million in 1942 to $61 million by 1964. Flights to [[Sydney Airport|Sydney]] via stops in [[Honolulu]], [[Kanton Island]] (which was a technical stop) and [[Fiji]] as well as to Hong Kong via Tokyo (preceded by a technical stop at [[Shemya Island]] in Alaska) started in 1949, with [[Canadair North Star]] aircraft (which was a version of the DC-4); [[Douglas DC-4]]s then took over in 1951 followed by [[Douglas DC-6B]]s in 1953.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aug. 1, 1951 Canadian Pacific Air Lines system timetable |url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=www.timetableimages.com}}</ref> Flights to [[Lima, Peru]] started in 1953 (extended to [[Buenos Aires]] in 1956) and to Amsterdam in 1955. In August 1956 three Douglas DC-6B flights a week departed Vancouver for Amsterdam, with two flights departing for Tokyo and Hong Kong, one flight to Auckland, one flight to Sydney, and one flight to Buenos Aires.

Several of the key routes in the early days were as follows:

* Flight numbers 1 & 2, flying Hong Kong &ndash; [[Tokyo]] &ndash; Vancouver &ndash; [[Edmonton]] &ndash; [[Winnipeg]] &ndash; [[Toronto]] &ndash; [[Montreal]]
* Flights 301/302, flying [[Sydney Airport|Sydney]] &ndash; [[Nadi]] &ndash; [[Honolulu]] &ndash; Vancouver &ndash; [[Edmonton]], and non-stop via the [[Polar route]] to Amsterdam. Other flights to Europe included [[Lisbon]], [[Milan]], [[Rome]], and [[Athens]].
* Flights 401/402, flying Vancouver, [[Mexico City]], [[Lima]], [[Santiago]] and [[Buenos Aires]]
* Flights 501/502, Mexico City &ndash; [[Toronto]] &ndash; [[Santa Maria Island (Azores)|Santa Maria]] (Azores) &ndash; Lisbon &ndash; [[Madrid]]

Other routes duplicated parts of the above, but from the 1959 Intercontinental Timetable these appear to be the main routes, and show the inventiveness that Canadian Pacific Airlines needed to employ and how they developed other overseas routes for Canada. The airline was flying DC-4s and DC-6Bs internationally in the 1950s, introducing turboprop [[Bristol Britannia]] aircraft in 1958. [[Douglas DC-8]] jetliners began to replace them from 1961, but the Britannias continued on routes that were unsuitable for the new jets well into the 1960s &ndash; for example on the route to [[New Zealand]] until [[RNZAF Base Auckland|Whenuapai]] closed to civil traffic in November 1965. The big Britannia propjet was also used to fly non-stop service from [[Windsor, Ontario]] to [[Mexico City]] with this flight originating in Toronto before being replaced by a DC-8.<ref>{{Cite web |title=April 29, 1962 & Oct. 31, 1965 Canadian Pacific Air Lines system timetable |url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=www.timetableimages.com}}</ref>  Closer to home, non-stop [[Boeing 737-200]] service from Vancouver to [[San Francisco]] was being flown by 1970 followed by non-stop [[Boeing 727-100]] service from Vancouver to [[Los Angeles]] by the mid-1970s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oct. 25, 1970 & April 25, 1976 CP Air system timetables |url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=www.timetableimages.com}}</ref>  Also during the mid-1970s, CP Air was operating stretched [[Douglas DC-8-63]] jetliners (which the airline called the Super DC-8 "Spacemaster") on the Vancouver-Honolulu-[[Nadi International Airport|Nandi]]-Sydney route twice a week.<ref>{{Cite web |title=April 25, 1976 CP Air system timetable |url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=www.timetableimages.com}}</ref>  Service to New Zealand resumed in 1985 along with non-stop flights from Vancouver to Hong Kong, and in 1986 CP Air became the first North American airline with a non-stop flight between North America and Mainland [[China]] with a weekly flight to [[Shanghai]]. Flights to [[Beijing]], [[Bangkok]], [[Rio de Janeiro]], and [[São Paulo]] were added in 1987.
[[File:Boeing 747-217B C-FCRA CP TOR 270775 edited-2.jpg|thumb|right|CP Air [[Boeing 747]], [[Boeing 737]] and [[Boeing 727]] at [[Toronto Pearson International Airport|Toronto International Airport]] in 1975]]
Although Canadian Pacific was not allowed scheduled routes to certain European countries, they were permitted to serve countries which Trans Canada Airlines/Air Canada did not choose to serve, so they developed schedules from 1960 onwards to Netherlands (Amsterdam), Italy (Milan and Rome), Greece (Athens), and later several other international destinations. Amsterdam was their principal European destination for these services, with direct flights to both Eastern and Western Canada, and connections were emphasized onwards to other countries. They also developed extensive charter flights (operated mainly in summertime) beginning in the mid-1960s and through the 1970s and 1980s to Britain, France, Germany and other European points which permitted them some access to these markets. Unusually for charter flights, they were listed in detail in their system timetables to show the full reach of the airline.

===Open skies===
[[File:CP Air 737-217 in San Francisco.jpg|thumb|A [[Boeing 737-200]] at [[San Francisco International Airport]] in 1983]]
By the late 1970s and early 1980s, many of the routes CP Air had pioneered such as Vancouver–Tokyo were now very lucrative and the previous distribution of routes was considered unfair. In 1979, the federal government eliminated the fixed market share of transcontinental flights for [[Air Canada]] (the successor to TCA).  While this was a condition that was pressed by CP Air for a long time, it now scrambled to upgrade its fleet to expand on newly available routes such as new nonstop service from Vancouver to Hong Kong and Shanghai to go along with adding more flights to its then current routes like Amsterdam, Rome, Tokyo and Sydney to prepare for increased competition from Air Canada in its traditional territory. This required massive fleet renewal and an associated debt of $1 billion.

This debt load, the increased competition, and the economic downturn in Asia would all work against CP Air's future.

===Rebranding and sale===
[[File:Canadian Pacific Airlines Boeing 737-2T5; C-GEPM, June 1986 BAT (5288914314).jpg|thumb|A [[Boeing 737-200]] in the 1986 livery, later used as the basis for the Canadian Airlines livery]]
Having been renamed CP Air in 1968 with a new orange livery, the airline in 1986 reverted to its original name, Canadian Pacific Air Lines, with a new navy blue colour scheme and logo. This occurred shortly after the airline had taken over operations of [[Eastern Provincial Airways]].

This new incarnation, however, was short-lived. Less than a year later, in 1987, Canadian Pacific Air Lines was sold, along with Quebec's [[Nordair]], to Calgary-based [[Pacific Western Airlines]] (PWA) for $300 million.<ref>Canadian Pacific to change name ''[[Australian Aviation]]'' issue 38 May 1987 page 13</ref> PWA assumed the airline's debt of $600 million. In April 1987, PWA announced that the new name of the merged airline would be [[Canadian Airlines International]]. In 2001, Canadian Airlines was taken over by and merged into [[Air Canada]].

==Historical fleet==
*[[Barkley-Grow T8P-1]]
*[[Bellanca Aircruiser|Bellanca 66-76 Aircruiser]] 
*[[Boeing 707-120B|Boeing 707-138B]] (''leased in 1968'')
*[[Boeing 727-100|Boeing 727-117]]  (1969–1974) (''included [[Combi aircraft]] capable of mixed passenger/freight operations'')
*[[Boeing 727-200|Boeing 727-217]]  (1975–1984)
*[[Boeing 737-200|Boeing 737-217/284]] (1968–1987)
*[[Boeing 737-300|Boeing 737-3D1]]  (1983-1987)
*[[Boeing 747-100|Boeing 747-1D1]]  (1973–1984)
*[[Boeing 747-200B|Boeing 747-211B]] (1978–1984)
*[[Boeing 767-200ER|Boeing 767-217ER]] ''(ordered but later cancelled)''
*[[Bristol Britannia]] 
*[[Convair CV-240 family|Convair CV 240]] (''operated on northern Canadian routes'') <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1962/1962%20-%200561.html |title=hong kong &#124; convair &#124; 1962 &#124; 0561 &#124; Flight Archive |publisher=[[FlightGlobal]]|access-date=2018-05-07}}</ref>
*[[C-46 Commando|Curtiss Wright C-46F Commando]]
*[[Canadair North Star|Canadair CL-4 North Star C-4-1]] 
*[[De Havilland Dragon Rapide|de Havilland D.H.89A Dragon Rapide]] 
*[[de Havilland Comet]] (''destroyed in an accident before being placed in revenue service'')
*[[de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter]] 
*[[Douglas C-54]]
*[[Douglas DC-3]] 
*[[Douglas DC-4]]
*[[Douglas DC-6]] 
*[[Douglas DC-8]]-40 (1961–1980)
*[[Douglas DC-8]]-50 (1965–1966)
*[[Douglas DC-8-63]] (1968–1983) (''stretched Super DC-8 model'')
*[[Lockheed Lodestar|Lockheed 18 C-60A Lodestar]] 
* [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10]] (leased from [[United Airlines]])
* [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30]] (1977-1987)
List is incomplete and uses data primarily from the Boeing Sales Database.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ba (Nyse) |url=http://active.boeing.com/commercial/orders/index.cfm |title=Boeing: Commercial |publisher=Active.boeing.com |access-date=2018-05-07}}</ref>

==Accidents and incidents==
There were 15 major incidents aboard Canadian Pacific Air Lines / CP Air aircraft.

* December 20, 1942: A Lockheed 14-H2 Super Electra crashed on Mount William Knight in the Cheam Range east of Vancouver, killing 13 persons (3 crew and 10 passengers). 
*September 9, 1949: A [[Douglas DC-3]] exploded in mid-flight en route from [[Quebec City]] to [[Baie-Comeau]] as [[Albert Guay affair|the result of an onboard bomb]], killing all 23 on board.
* February 9, 1950: a [[Canadair]] C4 overran the runway at [[Tokyo-Haneda Airport]] and plunged into [[Tokyo Bay]]. All the passengers and crew were rescued.
* December 22, 1950: (CP4) [[Douglas DC-3]] struck a mountain in the [[Okanagan]] of [[British Columbia]] while on landing approach. 2 of 18 passengers/crew killed.
*July 21, 1951: A [[Douglas DC-4]] departed [[Vancouver]] for [[Anchorage, Alaska]] but [[1951 Canadian Pacific Douglas DC-4 disappearance|disappeared en route without a trace]]. Eventually, all 37 on board would be declared legally dead.
* March 3, 1953: [[De Havilland Comet|De Havilland DH-106 Comet]] crashed on takeoff from [[Karachi, Pakistan]] while on a delivery flight. All eleven passengers/crew were killed.
* May 11, 1953: a [[Consolidated Aircraft|Consolidated]] [[PBY Catalina|PBY-5A Catalina]] crash landed at [[Prince Rupert, British Columbia]] with 2 fatalities.
* August 29, 1956:  (CP307) [[Douglas DC-6|Douglas DC-6B]] crashed when it missed the landing due to pilot error near [[Cold Bay, Alaska]]. 15 of 22 passengers/crew killed.
* July 22, 1962: ([[Canadian Pacific Flight 301|CP301]]) [[Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301]], a [[Bristol Britannia|Bristol Britannia 314]] crashed in [[Honolulu, Hawaii]]. 27 of 40 passengers/crew were killed.<br/>[[File:CP Air McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63 Sydney accident Wheatley.jpg|thumb|300px|CF-CPQ after the incident at [[Sydney Airport]] in 1971.]]
* July 8, 1965: [[Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 21|Flight 21 (CP21)]] Douglas DC-6B crashed near Dog Creek, [[British Columbia]] when a [[bomb]] blew its tail section away. All 52 passengers/crew were killed.
* March 4, 1966: [[Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402]] (CP402) [[Douglas DC-8|McDonnell Douglas DC-8-43]] crashed on landing in [[Tokyo, Japan]] at [[Tokyo]]'s [[Haneda Airport]] due to poor visibility. 64 of 72 passengers/crew were killed.
* February 7, 1968: (CP322) [[Boeing 707|Boeing 707-138B]] leased from and operated by<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/492539890 Air Crew Fatigue Blamed in Crash] ''[[Vancouver Sun]]'' 15 January 1969</ref> Standard Airways (of Seattle) crashed into aircraft and buildings at [[Vancouver]] while attempting to land in low visibility after a flight from Honolulu; 60 crew and passengers survived, but one flight attendant died, as did one person on the ground.
* January 29, 1971: a [[Boeing 727]] of [[Trans Australia Airlines]], registered as VH-TJA, hit the tailfin of a Canadian Pacific Air Lines [[Douglas DC-8]] (registered CF-CPQ) right after take-off from [[Sydney Airport|Sydney]] as Flight 592 to [[Perth Airport|Perth]]. The DC-8 had not yet cleared the runway following its arrival. The TAA 727 suffered a gash in its fuselage, but the pilots managed to safely return the aircraft to the airport, so that there were no injuries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19710129-1|title=Accident Description|website=[[Aviation Safety Network]] |publisher=[[Flight Safety Foundation]]|access-date=2 April 2015}}</ref>
* November 29, 1974: (CP71) Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 71, a Boeing 737, was hijacked while en route from [[Winnipeg]] to [[Edmonton]], by a man who wanted to get to [[Cyprus]]. The flight landed safely in [[Saskatoon, Saskatchewan]], with no fatalities, though the hijacker repeatedly attacked his hostage, a flight attendant, with a dinner knife.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/forty-years-ago-saskatoon-got-its-first-and-so-far-only-hijacked-airplane |title=Forty years ago Saskatoon got its first — and so far only — hijacked airplane |author=Staff writers |work=[[National Post]] |date=2015-01-24 |access-date=2019-11-21}}</ref>
* June 23, 1985: (CP3, CP60) At [[Narita International Airport]], a piece of luggage that had come from CP Air 3 exploded as it was being transferred to [[Air India Flight 301]]; the explosion killed two [[baggage handler]]s (Hideo Asano and Hideharu Koda) and injured four other people. The same kind of bomb, which CP Air staff had improperly allowed to be loaded on domestic flight CP Air 60 to [[Toronto]] and there transferred onto [[Air India Flight 182]], exploded one hour after the Narita explosion, killing everyone onboard AI182, with the 747-200 crashing into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of [[Ireland]].

==Aircraft on display==
* Fairchild 82A (CF-AXL) - located at Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. Operated by Airline from 1942 to 1947. Restored by and donated to Museum by Canadian Pacific Air Lines in 1967.
* Douglas DC-3 (CF-CPY) - located at Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse. Operated by Canadian Pacific Air Lines from 1946 to 1960.
* Douglas DC-6B (S/N 45329 CF-CZV) - located in Wallmannsthal, South Africa, still adorned with Canadian Pacific's original "Empress of Suva" name. Operated by Canadian Pacific Air Lines from 1957 to 1961.

==See also==
* [[List of defunct airlines of Canada]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Canadian Pacific Airlines}}
* [http://www.abheritage.ca/aviation/history/passenger_canadian.html CP Air]

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[[Category:Canadian Pacific Air Lines| ]]
[[Category:Defunct airlines of Canada]]
[[Category:Airlines established in 1942]]
[[Category:Canadian Pacific Railway subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Airlines disestablished in 1987]]
[[Category:Aviation history of Canada]]
[[Category:Canadian companies established in 1942]]