Air Canada Salutes and Celebrates its Women Employees on International Women's Day With Two All-Female Intercontinental Flights

• AC868 from Toronto-London Heathrow and AC15 from Toronto-Hong Kong operated by all-female crews today
• AC15 from Toronto-Hong Kong is the airline's longest flight operating on Mar. 8, onboard Air Canada's largest long range aircraft

MONTREAL, March 8, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today marked International Women's Day 2018 by operating two intercontinental flights from its global Toronto hub across both the Atlantic and Pacific with all female pilots and flight attendants. The flights were additionally supported by female ground crews providing aircraft servicing, loading, dispatch, pushback functions, customer boarding and more. A video of these flight preparations with comments from women working in non-traditional aviation careers is here.

"Today we proudly salute and acknowledge the achievements and contributions of the more than 13,300 women working at Air Canada worldwide. This year marks the third consecutive year and the fifth and sixth all-female flights we have featured on International Women's Day, highlighting the range of professional roles that skilled women in aviation work in every day," said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Senior Vice President, People, Culture and Communications at Air Canada.

"Air Canada has long been recognized as a company which champions equal opportunities for all qualified people, and there are no glass ceilings here. Capable women with the required skills and knowledge fly high at Air Canada, working as pilots flying the most sophisticated aircraft globally, as engineers maintaining technologically advanced airplanes and systems, and in specialized, multidisciplinary airline operations. Women hold executive and senior management roles across our airline. We continue encouraging the next generation of girls and young women to pursue their aviation dreams and to consider exciting and rewarding careers in non-traditional professions," concluded Ms. Meloul-Wechsler.

Flight AC868, the Daytripper from Toronto-London Heathrow onboard Air Canada's flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner departed at 08:30 with an all-female crew of two pilots and six flight attendants. At 11:18, flight AC15 from Toronto to Hong Kong, Air Canada's longest flight operating on March 8, departed with an all-female crew of four pilots and 11 flight attendants onboard a Boeing 777-200LR, its longest-range aircraft.

Approximately 30,000 people work at Air Canada worldwide. More than 43 per cent are women, and more than 420 women work in non-traditional professions as pilots, flight dispatchers, mechanics, engineers, technicians and in aircraft operations. 

Information about careers at Air Canada is available at: https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/about/careers.html.

Air Canada's Corporate Sustainability Report, which details diversity initiatives, is available at: https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/about/corporate-responsibility/corporate-sustainability-reports.html.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2017 served approximately 48 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 61 in the United States and 98 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,300 airports in 191 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax, which also named Air Canada the 2017 Best Airline in North America. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com/media, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

SOURCE Air Canada