Getting Canada Off the Ground (1972)

This 1972 film is part of Air Canada’s historical film archives that we digitized in Ottawa several years back, that we did not release on DVD.

On January 17, 1972, the air traffic controllers across Canada went on strike for 10 days. For the first time in their history, the airlines in Canada were not flying scheduled routes. Canada was grounded. Rail and bus operators struggled to take up the slack. Strangely enough most air passengers simply did not travel. The travelling public for the most part was set on only flying by air, not other modes. This situation was the opening fact for this Air Canada produced history of aviation and commercial flight in Canada.