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Trans-Canada Air Lines (also known as TCA in English, and Air Canada in French) was a Canadian airline and operated as the country's flag carrier. Its corporate headquarters were in Montreal, Quebec. Its first president was Gordon Roy McGregor. The airline operated under its original name from 1937 to 1965, when it was officially renamed Air Canada. ==Genesis== With heavy involvement from C. D. Howe, a senior minister in the Mackenzie King cabinet, TCA was created by the Crown Corporation Canadian National Railways (CNR), and launched its first flight on September 1, 1937, on a flight between Vancouver and Seattle. An air-mail contract with Canada Post was one of the methods by which TCA was financed.〔(Canadian Encyclopedia online, article on the "Postal System" )〕 The creation of TCA was partly by CNR management who wanted to expand the company into the new field of passenger aviation, and was partly by government direction. Prior to TCA, no large national airline existed in Canada. With war looming, and other nations (primarily the U.S.) experiencing major increases in the creation of passenger airlines, it was necessary to have a presence. The CNR was the country's largest corporation at the time and proved an effective vehicle for the government to create a national airline. TCA was also in direct competition with passenger trains operated by parent CNR, and contributed to the decline of passenger rail service as Canada entered the pioneering years of air travel. In response to CNR's creation of TCA, arch-rival Canadian Pacific Railway created Canadian Pacific Air Lines in 1942. During 1943-1947 TCA operated the Canadian Government Trans-Atlantic Air Service (CGTAS) to provide trans-Atlantic military passenger and postal delivery service using Avro Lancastrian (modified Avro Lancaster) aircraft.〔("Lancasters After The War." ) ''Bomber Command Museum.'' Retrieved: 3 October 2011.〕 The record crossing was completed non-stop in 12:26 hours; the average was about 13:25 hours.〔("Canadian Review." ) ''Flight'', 9 January 1947, p. 44. Retrieved: 3 October 2011.〕 CGTAS ushered in the era of commercial air travel across the North Atlantic.〔("The Canadian Lancasters." ) ''Bomber Command Museum.'' bombercommandmuseum.ca〕 After the war, the Lancastrians became part of TCA and carried paying civilian passengers until they were replaced by Douglas DC-4s.〔("Claude Ivan Taylor." ) ''Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame.'' Retrieved: 3 October 2011.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Trans-Canada Air Lines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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