FI-L-032
Organization: Air Canada
Year: 1963, retired c.1989
Designer: Hans Kleefeld
Details
Logo:
The design consists of a 15-point stylized maple leaf, surrounded by a circle, bisected at the bottom right hand side of the maple leaf’s stem.
The logo is a depiction of an Air Canada passenger’s journey. It starts at the beginning of the circle, going along it counterclockwise until it joins the maple leaf, which represents the many destinations the Canadian airline offers.
The logo appeared in a variety of lockup positions with the all-caps version of the Air Canada logotype. It also appeared with a mixed case Helvetica logotype during the late 1980s.
Background:
Air Canada became a federal Crown corporation, established by an Act of the Parliament of Canada in 1976.
Under its original name Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA), Air Canada was created in 1937 by federal legislation as a subsidiary of the government-owned Canadian National Railway. Its name officially changed from Trans-Canada Airlines to Air Canada on January 1, 1965.
The process to privatize Air Canada began with the National Transportation Act of 1987. The Act stipulated that the complete deregulation of Canada’s airline industry and the privatization of Air Canada itself would take place, as “market conditions permit.”
In 1989, Air Canada’s status as a Crown corporation came to an end after the sale of its remaining shares.
