Originally Posted by WHBM

I believe this was part of a commercial deal between Nordair and Stelco, the mainstream Canadian steel producer of the 1970s, to operate direct flights between Hamilton, site of the major Stelco facility, and Pittsburgh, as they had considerable commercial contacts with US Steel and others there.

Until this was agreed, Air Canada out of Toronto were apparently not interested, and many staff actually drove over the border to Buffalo NY and went from there, took a Stelco corporate flight, or even drove all the way. Air Canada probably never imagined anyone would ask for the route, then never imagined that Transport Canada would allow it, then thought it would be on a DC3 or something. But a 737 ? Bigger than AC's DC-9-30s ?

We are sustained here at London City by a similar commercial deal 40 years on, where the BA A318 flight to New York was underpinned by Barclays Bank buying 25% of the capacity for years ahead, which gave BA the commercial certainty to buy the A318s and get the service up and running. it's not 25% of every flight, but averaged over time. The American service from London Heathrow to off-hub Raleigh/Durham is similarly sustained by a long-term agreement with the SmithKline pharmaceuticals company.