Air Canada, You Rock! (in Toronto, at least)

I’ve just landed here at Pearson Airport in Toronto after an Air Canada flight up from Boston. The flight was on time, in a brand new, comfortable jet with leather seats and plenty of leg room.

Because Air Canada hasn’t moved its cross-border operations to Terminal One yet, we landed at Ye Olde Terminal Two, but the trip through customs was quick, and I was met at the exit from customs by a friendly agent who offered to squire me in a golf cart the length of the terminal to the shuttle bus to Terminal One. The shuttle trip was really neat, as the bus wends its way along the tarmac around planes and construction, giving an interesting behind the scenes look at the airport.

Terminal One is truly a wonderful space, and the swanky Maple Leaf Lounge I’m sitting in as I type makes the lounges in Montreal and Halifax looks like they are run by Aeroflot: there’s a tremendous amount of space, a wonderful view of the airfield, a nice buffet of salad and wraps, a self-serve gelato station, and copious, fast, free wifi. Even the machine-made hot chocolate isn’t bad.

I fully expect to regress back to the old 1972-era Air Canada once I step on the flight to Charlottetown in an hour: I suspect the sesame snacks will be out in full force, and the plane no doubt will be the oldest in the turboprop fleet. But at least I’ve been offered a small glimpse of how Air Canada treats the Important People up here in Upper Canada.

Off to have a gelato…