Canada’s largest airline is based in Montreal and was founded on April 10, 1937 as Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA for short). At that time, it was a subsidiary of the state-owned Canadian National Railway (CNR for short) and was based in Winnipeg.

The first flight took place on September 1, 1937 between Vancouver and Seattle. 2 passengers and mail were transported on the 15-minute flight. In 1949, the company moved its headquarters to Montreal. Trans-Canada Airlines was the first airline to introduce a computerized reservation system. The Air Canada brand was introduced for advertising purposes in Europe and became the official name of the company on June 1, 1964. It was not until the 1970s that Canadian National Railway was restructured and Air Canada was partially privatized.

Air Canada founded the Star Alliance in 1997.