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I have had the honour of flying the first TANGO flight operated by AC. Well, almost, but not quite. As I made my way down to Gate 218, located off the main YYZ-T2 corridor, a dogleg to the right just after Harvey’s, I caught sight of that newly-painted purple beast out the window. In all its glory that maple leaf in bold purple. Approaching closer to my gate I saw that indeed, the A320 assigned to this morning’s flight to YEG, the one on which I was booked, was none other than the first former CP aircraft painted in the new carrier’s colours.

Nothing else, however, had changed. The interior still held the original CP business/ economy seating, though the seats were showing their age, and a retrofit was most certainly overdo. It will be interesting to see if AC just replaces the business class seats with two extra rows of CP economy seats, or if there is an entire new outfitting of the aircraft for its November 1st debut as a true TANGO airplane.

Otherwise, a couple of observations:

Check in a T2 went smoothly and quickly. With an 11:50 am departure, I caught the 9:40 airport bus from the Royal York, and we rolled into Pearson about 20-minutes later. Little traffic on either the Gardner, QEW or the 427 going north, but usual back ups in the other direction. Hitting T2, there were very few people checking in at the Rapidair counters close to where the bus let us off. I proceeded down to the Executive Class check-in area, deciding that even though I had a small roll-on style carry-on bag, I would check it. The procedure took less than 2-minutes, after being asked for photo ID, my upgrade certificate – which was actually in the ticket folder for the agent – and the usual silly questions.

There is still a dedicated Priority security check-in line, though as posted by our Brazilian Connection [CC], signs are small and floor mounted so not easy to see. It is the first entry way just past the Chapel and Special Services lounge. Nobody else was checking in here, or anywhere else at the four domestic check-in doors. [Passing the Rapidair area, I noticed the same lack of people lined up.] I was asked to show my boarding pass, but unlike my US experiences, no photo ID. My one carry on, a briefcase, was X-rayed, and the operator asked me to turn on my iBook, which I had this time set on sleep so it would come to life rather more quickly than being booted up from the off position.

The MLL was pretty quiet, but all the terminals were taken in the business center, so I just went for a normal lounge seat, got an espresso from the new machine, and settled in for a 1-1/2 wait until my flight. Made a few phone calls, read a few magazines, then headed for what would be The Purple People Eater… Full flight in the back and I suspect a few op upgrades, though I had an empty seat next to me and a couple of other business types were similarly seated next to empty seats. Cold chicken lunch, and plastic knife, but all other utensils were the usual metal ones. We arrived on time, but Priority did not mean much for our bags, as mine and some of the others – including those of an old colleague who was on the flight in Business too – were the last to come down the carousel.

It will be interesting to hear from others if they either fly or see one of these planes over the coming weeks.