Just the other day we were talking about Air Canada and complaining about their decision to start charging for better seats in coach, but today we have a little bit of better news. We knew the airline was working behind the scenes to equip some of their planes with in-flight WiFi, and the first stage of the installation has been completed.

In time for the holiday season, the airline is testing out the wireless Internet magic over a ten week period—just to see how things go at first. They’re the first Canadian airline to provide the service, and passengers will be busy surfing on routes from Montreal and Toronto to Los Angeles. Gogo will be providing the service, but at first, the wireless will only be available when the planes are actually flying over the United States. ]]> kjb 2009-11-23T09:04:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/19/8234/5926

Air Canada has been busy spending lots of cash on stuff like iPhone Apps, in-flight WiFi, and snazzy software for your Blackberry. This stuff all costs money, and like all other airlines, the money probably isn’t just pouring in up in Canada. So the country’s flagship carrier is opening up the fee and charge toolbox in hopes of finding a good way to boost revenue.

The airline will begin to charge for seats with more room to stretch out your legs. That means scoring an exit row or bulkhead seat with the online seat selector has become a thing of the past. It will set you back at least $14 each way to reserve one of those seats. We do love getting an exit seat, but it’s kind of sad that we are willing to pay for an upgrade—after all, it’s still coach. ]]> kjb 2009-11-19T08:39:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/16/153124/18

Having been the first North American airline with an iPhone travel application, Air Canada has now become the first one with a Blackberry app. The software allows travelers to get flight status updates, confirm their reservation, and even generate a 2-D boarding pass that locks in their seats and sets them up to board the plane. That last feature is the kind of thing that separates airline travel apps from the ever growing list of hotel travel apps. Generating a preexisting boarding pass earlier is better.

We've long been confused by airlines that leave Blackberry users behind while rushing into the iPhone market. Do people with Blackberries not travel a lot? Are companies afraid that Blackberry users aren't as tied to their phones? Have they heard of the word "crackberry?" Air Canada definitely has, per their press release:]]> Omri 2009-10-16T15:57:46-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/17/05729/4037

We love airplanes, you love airplanes, so let's go look at airplanes! In our Prime Plane Spotting series, we'll let you in on all the best spots to whip out your cameras and binoculars for a piece of the aviation action.

On the Pacific coast of Canada, in Vancouver, there is a jetty ideally situated for watching landing planes. On almost the other side of the North American continent in Toronto, it's a Wendy's fast food restaurant that makes for the perfect lookout. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-09-17T15:28:55-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/25/81123/1555

Flying north of the border has recently gotten a huge boost in technology, what with Air Canada announcing that they've got gate-to-gate in-flight entertainment and that they're even working on testing and installing Gogo in-flight WiFi. The advances just keep on coming with Air Canada, as this month they've released the first iPhone application by a North American airline. Sure, other airlines have mobile-optimized websites, but haven't yet made the jump to full app.

Don't worry; the Air Canada app is free and readily available on iTunes' app store. With it, you can do more than just check flight status. According to the press release, the app will make it "convenient for travellers with Apple devices to retrieve electronic boarding passes, track flight information in real-time, receive notification of itinerary changes and obtain other details about Air Canada flights." It even utilizes the shaking feature of an iPhone and iPod Touch; shake it to refresh flight status. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-08-25T08:44:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/6/104533/5249

Our neighbors across the border are on their way to enjoying sweet, sweet in-flight WiFi. SkySurf Canada has been awarded a license to provide Internet access up there, as the Gogo of the north, if you will. Aircell is already looking to become friendly with them, but for now it appears as though things will be slow to start, although Air Canada does plan to offer WiFi connectivity later this year on flights from Toronto to Los Angeles.

Back at home, Delta is plugging along in equipping their planes with in-flight WiFi. They’ve made some good progress in recent weeks and have almost completed WiFi installation on 60% of their pre-merger domestic fleet. Installation on the airline’s first wide-body jet is set to take place on July 9, and the Boeing 767-300 will be testing things out on July 13. You’ll be happy to know they are hard at work on Northwest’s pre-merger fleet as final designs will be determined this month. ]]> kjb 2009-07-07T09:16:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/28/23242/1312

We can be bought with ice cream. We can be bought with a chocolate chip cookie. Give us both and we are totally yours forever and ever amen.

Air Canada clearly knows this, and have obviously arranged for us to stumble across the photograph of the Executive First Class snack on a London to Toronto flight to mitigate the fact that we heard their service was below par. We're seriously thinking that the service could be done by monkeys as long as they were bringing us our Haagen Dazs and freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie. Apparently they also offer oatmeal raisin cookies if you want a semblance of healthy goodness.

We can't confirm if this is the regular snack available on this flight – this picture was taken in January – but we are seriously considering booking a flight so we can find out in person. Or perhaps we just need a trip to the freezer section of the supermarket.

Related Stories:
· Air Canada's First Class Has Great Technology, But ... [Jaunted]
· First Class Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Archangeli] ]]> amandak 2009-04-29T15:05:52-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/