Air Canada is commemorating Black History Month, by highlighting the accomplishments and contributions of its Black employees in aviation, including the launch of an inaugural Black History celebratory flight.

Flight AC914 from Toronto, to Fort Lauderdale, and return flight AC917, are being flown today by a Black crew of two pilots, and eight flight attendants, on a wide-body Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

Black managers and employees on the ground, and behind the scenes, helped plan and support Air Canada’s Black History celebration flight.

“We salute and acknowledge the achievements and contributions of Air Canada’s Black employees who brought forward their idea of operating today’s Black History celebratory flight. We are very pleased to champion their identity, pride, and enthusiasm for this special, inaugural flight to commemorate Black History Month at our airline”, said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer and Public Affairs.

“We are a global airline that transports customers across six continents, and our biggest strength is our people. Air Canada is widely recognized for its diversity, culture and inclusiveness, and we strive to create a workplace that employees feel proud to belong to by leaning in and listening, learning and working collaboratively to continually advance shared initiatives” concluded Ms. Meloul-Wechsler.

“We are so incredibly proud of today’s inaugural Black History celebratory flight! Not only does this demonstrate Black representation in aviation, we also want qualified Black people to know they have a place in our industry and especially at Air Canada. We thank Air Canada for supporting this historic flight and for working together with Air Canada’s Black employee community to further strengthen our airline’s culture” said Yolanda Cornwall, Customer Service Training Specialist – Toronto and Claudine Martinell, Concierge and Premium Customer Excellence – USA, members of the Air Canada Black History Month Committee.