This post described a trip in an Air Canada (ACA141) Airbus A320 (tail number C-FCQX), between Toronto (YYZ) and Calgary (YYC), on 7 October 2026.
It was scheduled for 12:00 but left the gate at 12:08, and took-off at 12:22. Scheduled arrival in Calgary was 14:10 (local time), but it actually landed at 14:22 and was at the arrival gate at 14:30.
There is a 2-hour time difference between Toronto and Calgary.
C-FCQX
This particular aircraft first flew on 5 Dec. 2011 (so it was 14.8 years old), and was delivered to Virgin America on 22 Dec. 2011. It was actually leased from Rbs Aerospace (aircraft leasing and finance subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland), and was christened “Scarlett O’Air”.
It was returned to the lease holder in January 2023, and re-leased by Alaska Airlines from SMBC Aviation Capital. However, on the 30 May 2024 it was leased by Air Canada from Bbam.
This particular aircraft had spent the night in New York (6th Oct.) and had arrived in Toronto at 08:01 (scheduled 06:30). After completing Toronto-Calgary, it would return to Toronto, before leaving for Montréal–Ottawa-Montréal-Ottowa-Montréal-Calgary on the 8th Oct. 2026.
Business Class
I had pre-booked an economy ticket on this flight, and had checked-in online. I had been carrying the flu (or similar) for about 7 days and felt ill. So I decided to upgrade to business, in the hope that I might sleep through most of the 4 hour flight. The flight was full in economy, but I found a business class window seat. In fact there were some free seats, but when boarding I found all 12 business seats had been sold.
I had been told to leave at about 08:30 for a 12:00 flight. But the business class ticket got me priority access, and I was sitting in the business lounge (sleeping more than sitting) at just after 10:00.
At that time, the lounge was quiet, some breakfast items were on offer, and I found a nice corner to sleep.
At about 11:00 the business lounge was a bit busier, and some lunch items appeared.
I made my way to the gate, and had priority boarding. The seat was perfect, and I managed to get more than 2-hours sleep.
The Flight
Toronto (above) is Canada’s largest city, with approximately 2.8 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 6 million in its metropolitan area (2021 census). It is the capital of Ontario and Canada’s principal financial and commercial centre.
Toronto Pearson is Canada’s busiest airport, handling approximately 46 million passengers annually in recent years. It is named after Lester B. Pearson (1897–1972), Canada’s 14th prime minister (1963–1968) and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize (for proposing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Crisis).
Above we can see Toronto’s suburban expansion and the enormous areas of relatively uniform residential development. Most of the visible buildings are individual houses or townhouses, arranged in tightly packed subdivisions. The curved residential streets, cul-de-sacs and repeated building layouts are typical of planned suburban development in southern Ontario, particularly since the 1980s.
What we see is typical of outer suburban Toronto, but not of the whole city. Central Toronto contains substantial high-rise development, older residential districts, industrial areas and a much denser street network.
Calgary (above), in southern Alberta, is Canada’s third-largest municipality, after Toronto and Montréal, with approximately 1.3 million inhabitants in 2021. It is Alberta’s principal business and financial centre, particularly associated with Canada’s oil and natural gas industries. Located about 80 km east of the Rocky Mountain foothills, Calgary is a major gateway to Banff and the Canadian Rockies.
Calgary International is Canada’s fourth-busiest airport, behind Toronto Pearson, Vancouver and Montréal Trudeau. It handled approximately 19 million passengers in 2025. Calgary is the principal hub of WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline.
The above photo of Calgary shows the extensive, relatively flat agricultural landscape of southern Alberta, with its distinctive pattern of rectangular fields extending almost uninterrupted towards the horizon.
Much of western Canada was divided using the Dominion Land Survey, introduced in 1871 to facilitate settlement and land ownership. The basic unit was a section measuring one square mile (approximately 259 hectares), subdivided into four quarter-sections of 160 acres (approximately 65 hectares). Many of the visible boundaries reflect this historical system.
The pale brown, beige and darker patches are consistent with harvested fields, stubble, fallow land and different crops or soil conditions. Early October is after the principal harvest period for much of southern Alberta (e.g. wheat, barley and canola).
Compared with Toronto, the landscape appears almost treeless. This reflects the natural grassland environment of the southern Alberta Prairies, with relatively low precipitation compared with southern Ontario. Much of the original grassland has been converted to agriculture.
This photo is typical of the countryside east and northeast of Calgary, rather than Calgary itself. The city has extensive residential suburbs, a substantial downtown skyline and industrial areas. West of Calgary, the landscape changes towards the foothills and eventually the Rocky Mountains.
Lunch
Lunch looked better than it tasted. The salad was fine with the small bottle of oil dressing. The main dish was lasagna, which consisted of two sheets of pasta and a kind of cheese filling. The bread was rock hard, and the cake was worthless.
I drank three glasses of Pepsi in the vain hope that it might kill the odd virus, but to no avail.
Conclusion
Despite my occasional negative comment, I enjoyed my first flight with Air Canada. The style was refreshingly different. The business lounge was civilised, and business class was comfortable.
Of course this was only the first step in a long story of discovery. See my travel report on Calgary to Vancouver by car.
