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My Review: Air Canada E-190 Flight from Toronto to Seattle

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AIR CANADA REVIEW BASICS:

Airline: Air Canada
Aircraft: Embraer 190
Departed: Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
Arrived: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Stops: Non-stop flight
Class: Executive Class
Seat: 3F (window)
Length: 5.5 hours

Cheers: Cookies made fresh on the plane served with ice cream — double cool.
Jeers: Wish there were more options with the in-flight entertainment and OMG that lavatory is unreal.
Overall: I was impressed with my first Air Canada and E-190 flight.

Oh here is my Air Canada E-190 leaving Toronto. You true airline geeks will know that is a lie. This is actually an Air Canada E-190 I caught while in Montreal -- there were no good shots of mine at Toronto.

Oh here is my Air Canada E-190 leaving Toronto. You true airline geeks will know that is a lie. This is actually an Air Canada E-190 I caught while in Montreal -- there were no good shots of mine at Toronto, so I am kind of cheating here.

THE FULL AIR CANADA REVIEW:

Anytime I have an opportunity to fly on an new airline or new aircraft type, I get excited. So, the fact I was flying on a new airline AND new aircraft type made me a bit giddy. I was able to  fly from Toronto (YYZ) to Seattle (SEA) non-stop on an Air Canada Embraer E-190 in Executive Class and of course I wanted to write up a review. (disclaimer: The cost of the flight was covered by a TV production studio, for work not related to Air Canada or Embraer).

Since I had a premium ticket, I decided to head to the airport early to try out the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. The lounge was very spacious, had the amenities that one would expect (including showers) and offered a comfortable atmosphere. The choices of food was a bit skimpy, but holy smokes I have never had such delicious broccoli soup.

Where the food might have been a bit lacking, it was made up for in drink choices. The Maple Leaf lounge had a nice array of hard liquor, beer and coffee choices. It was probably the most impressive drink set up I have seen in a lounge without actually having a full bar.

Air Canada's E-190 has a 2:1 layout in Executive Class. As an extra bonus, I had no one sitting next to me.

Air Canada's E-190 has a 2:1 layout in Executive Class. As an extra bonus, I had no one sitting next to me.

When it came time to board, the process went very smoothly, mostly because the flight was not very full. I was a little worried how small the E-190 overhead bins might be and since I was able to check a bag for free with my Executive ticket, I just decided to check my bag. I found it wasn’t really needed and would have had no problem putting it in the bin — oh well.

The Air Canada E-190 has a 1-2 layout in Executive class and 2-2 in economy. I was wondering how a premium seat would feel in such a small aircraft and I was actually pretty surprised. I was hoping to try sitting on the side with only one seat, but I ended up in 3F, which was a window on the 2 side. It worked out since I had no one sitting next to me.

I had plenty of leg room and seat width — even if there would had been someone next to me. I was quite impressed with the size and shape of the windows of the E-190. Height-wise they are perfectly located for my 6’1″ frame and their width makes it easy to look out.

The salad. I probably should have waited for my bread (which did some shortly), but I was too hungry so I took the photo and ate.

The salad. I probably should have waited for my bread (which did come shortly), but I was too hungry so I took the photo and ate.

Upon boarding I was greeted by my last name — before they even noticed I was in Executive Class. Prior to the door being closed, we were given menus to choose between chicken, salmon and veggies — I decided to go for the chicken. We left a bit late, due to the flight arriving late, but we had a short taxi and took off quickly due to having a light load. Shortly after take off, it was time to dine.

After my salad I was served pan-seared chicken in Parmesan cream sauce with seasoned mixed rice, carrots and edamame (yea I kept the menu as a souvenir). The food was decent and filling, but the best part was desert. There was a choice of oatmeal raisin or dark chocolate chip cookies that were made on board the aircraft and served with vanilla ice cream. Fresh baked cookies and ice cream while cruising at 35,000 feet is always a nice treat.

Another nice touch were the swizzle sticks served with the drinks (see last photo). It is more than just serving the sticks, but the fact that they have the maple leaf up top. This is really a lost art that one does not see much anymore. Sure, it is not a huge deal, but little details like this makes you think that the airline cares about the little details.

I wish there were a few more options with the entertainment system.

I wish there were a few more options with the entertainment system.

I test the room of a seat by being able to have a drink, a snack, writing on my laptop and being able to watch a movie. Of course having an empty seat next to me really helps, but even with a seatmate I would have been able to do everything successfully.

If you do not fly much and are only taking one long flight, the in-flight entertainment would probably work out alright. However,  if you are looking for plenty of options, this one will most likely disappoint you. There were some nice selections that kept me entertained, but if I would be flying back to Toronto, I would have probably run out of things that would interest me.

I was also not too fond of the front lavatory. Well, that is probably putting it too lightly — that lavatory was the worst one I have ever been in. It had nothing to do with the upkeep, but the size. Not to go into too much detail, but for me to use the restroom I had to bend my head down and contort to make things work. If it were turbulent, I think I might have had some real issues.

Swizzle sticks totally rock. So do cookies and ice cream.

Swizzle sticks totally rock. So do cookies and ice cream.

I kept wanting to think of the flight as a domestic one, even though it was technically international. Looking at the E-190 as a shorter route domestic aircraft, it does pretty well. However, it did seem a bit out of place for such a long flight and really Toronto to Seattle is about the limit that the E-190 can operate.

For a shorter, domestic flight, this was a nice product and high-end experience. As an international experience, it comes up a little short. But in all honesty, this route and product should be seen as domestic. My Air Canada experience back to Seattle was leaps and bounds better than the economy red eye I took to Toronto where I had to change planes in Chicago.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS OF MY AIR CANADA E-190 FLIGHT

Oops! Airline Lands with Front Door Unlatched — Photo

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This Eritrean Airlines Boeing 767 obviously has its front door un-latched at the time of landing. Click photo for larger view and check then door handle.

This Eritrean Airlines Boeing 767 obviously has its front door un-latched at the time of landing. Click photo for larger view and check the door handle. Photo by Ken Fielding.

Airline enthusiast Ken Fielding caught an interesting shot while spotting in Manchester (MAN) on December 27, 2004. He took this photo of an Eritrean Airlines Boeing 767-300ER being ferried from Paris-de Gaulle (CDG). At the time, he did not realize the significance of the photo and took a closer look when he recently uploaded it to Flickr. Take a close look near the front of the plane and you will notice that the front door (1R) is unlatched (click on the photo, zoom in and you can easily see the handle in the up position).

It appears that the door was put into that position while at  CDG and that the pressurization of the cabin kept the door closed during flight. Fielding reports that since the aircraft was on a ferry flight, there were no passengers on board. Still, that doesn’t give the crew a pass at not completing a simple task of flying safely: make sure all the doors are shut and locked. The crew should have noticed when arming the doors (which they obviously did not do) and/or there should have been an indicator in the cockpit.

I tried to reach out to Eritrean Airlines, but their website is not very helpful for finding contacts and since they are high-lighting stories from 2004, I am guessing it is not the most accurate. The airline went out of business in 2008, but started up again on July 16, 2011 with a pretty slick new livery.

Photo by Ken Fielding

Where is United Airline’s First Boeing 787 Dreamliner?

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United Airline's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner (line number 45) on the factory florr on September 25, 2011.

United Airline's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner (line number 45) on the factory floor on September 25, 2011.

A few weeks ago there were rumors that United’s first 787 Dreamliner might have gone into the paint booth. As an airline geek, this is exciting news. It would mean that we get to see the 787 in a United livery and we get to find out if United is going to dress their first 787 in a special livery.

As time passed and no 787 in United livery came out of the paint booth, I started to wonder… where the heck is United’s first Dreamliner?

I reached out to United and they said that their plane was out of the factory, but has not gone into paint. “We are quite excited for this revolutionary aircraft to join our fleet,” Mary Ryan with United Airlines communications explained to AirlineReporter.com. “As for the status of our first 787, unfortunately the rumor is untrue: the aircraft is out of the assembly process but has not yet gone into paint.”

Bummer, but my guess is that we won’t miss it since I expect United to celebrate their first aircraft.

There were other rumors that aircraft #45 might not be going to United Airlines anymore. No worries Boeing confirmed to me that, “there has been no change to the customer who will take delivery of [L/N45].”

The last rumor is that United is planning to paint their Dreamliner in a special livery. Although it is likely, my bet is do not expect a revolutionary change. My guess is that the globe will still be apart of the 787 and that United is not planning on an entirely new livery for their entire fleet. I know there are some of you hoping that United will unveil an entirely new livery starting with the 787 Dreamliner, but they have spent millions on transitioning to the globe and I highly doubt they will work towards another look.

The livery rumors will have to remain out there for the time being. We might just have to wait until the big unveil, which at this time no one knows when it will be.

Airline Livery of the Week: Air Inuit

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One of Air Inuit Boeing 737-200s (C-GMAI) taken in Montreal. CLICK FOR LARGER.

One of Air Inuit Boeing 737-200s (C-GMAI) taken in Montreal. CLICK FOR LARGER.

Air Inuit was founded in November 1978 and is based in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. The airline operates north — way north into Nunavik and Nunavut. Many of their destinations are isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. The airline becomes an integral part of many communities being able to survive.

When Air Inuit started operating up north, there was almost no aviation infrastructure and the airline had to get creative. From their website:

“When we first began flying to remote communities along our coasts, we faced many unique challenges. In the beginning, winter ice strips were built with community participation. In summer, improvised tundra strips had to be marked out. Dispatchers or pilots often radioed ahead, alerting the people to illuminate the community’s landing strip with the headlights of their ATV’s or snowmobiles.”

Today, Air Inuit operates a diverse fleet of older aircraft including the: DHC6 Twin Otter, Avro 748, Boeing 737-200 combi (be sure to catch the ski gravel deflector on the front landing gear), Dash 8 and King Air.

The photo shown on this post highlights Air Inuit’s new “goose livery.” Their older livery was not too shabby with some simple lines, but this new one is pretty darn slick and the orange really stands out against the snow.

Are you able to see the three geese on the tail?

Edit: Thanks to reader Ken Fielding for pointing out the gravel deflector not being a ski, “Airlines operating regularly into gravel strips, as Air Inuit do, fit them to stop the nosewheel kicking up stones which can be ingested by the engines.  Quite a few MD-80’s had them fitted too for the same reason.”

Image: J P Gosselin