I was scouring old online newspaper archives looking for travel ads for the Caribbean from the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s. I wasn’t overly successful, but then, I’m not willing to pay for access to the archives of the more popular and still active newspapers. What I did find was pretty cool, though.
In the St. John’s Daily News in January of 1963, I found a series of advertisements by Trans Canada Airlines. TCA is the present day Air Canada. The St. John’s Daily News was published from 1894 to 1984. There was some other fun stuff, as well.
This advertisement for flights from St. John’s to Sydney, Nova Scotia boasts a 1:15 flight time with up to three flights per day. I’m not sure but assume that the $52 return fare in economy class is before taxes.
In 2014, the price for the same trip via Air Canada starts at $479, including taxes. The flight is not direct and a connection must be made in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Flight time to Halifax is 1:36 and the time between Halifax and Sydney is 52 minutes. considering it is said that a dollar in 1963 is worth $7.66 today, that $52 flight would be equivalent to $398.
So, considering the price is fairly even, I’d said air service was much better back in 1963, wouldn’t you?
By the way, Harvey’s Travel Agency still exists today. It is now associated with Carlson Wagonlit and has several locations throughout Newfoundland and the Maritime Provinces.
The above ad brings to light the strong connection between Newfoundland and the United Kingdom. The $301 from St. John’s to London, England and the $271.80 to Glascow, Scotland can probably be found today but certainly not with Air Canada. Boasting comfort on a DC-8 was a big thing in 1963 since the monsters of their day were first built just five years before.
Today to fly from St. John’s to London, England costs as low as $1,174 via Air Canada for a return trip, including taxes. With our inflation factor of 7.66, that is a deal compared to 1963. Flights today connect in Halifax and Montreal before ending up at Heathrow in London. In other words, you must fly a considerable distance west in order to fly east.
The modern price to Glascow is similar at $1,189, taxes included via Air Canada. Connections need to be made at Montreal then at Newark, New Jersey before heading to Glascow International.
EPA is gone, swallowed up by CP Air and eventually by Air Canada. Now, the flight time is a little better with it taking 45 minutes to get from St. John’s to Gander via Air Canada. Pricing starts at $582, taxes included, for a return flight.
As mentioned, Harvey’s Travel Agency still exists but is no longer located in the Confederation Building. The eleven story building was built in 1960 and is home to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly.
If you are a current or former employee of Harvey’s Travel or have flown on one of the old TCA or EPA flights from St. John’s, we’d love to hear any stories you have.
EPA stands for Eastern Provincial Airways and was the main way of getting around Newfoundland and the Maritimes from 1949 to 1986. The airline was headquartered in Gander and Halifax.
EPA merged with CP Air in 1986 to form Canadian Pacific Airlines. A year later, Canadian Pacific merged with Nordair and Pacific Western Airlines to form Canadian Airlines. Canadian ceased in 2000 after being bought out by Air Canada.
The ad tells of a 3:35 flight time between St. John’s and Moncton, New Brunswick with three flights daily. The price of $88 is adjusted to $675 in today’s money. To get from St. John’s to Moncton today, pricing starts at $678, including taxes for a return flight via Air Canada. You must connect in Halifax, or even Toronto. Flight time to Halifax is 1:36 and flight time from Halifax to Moncton is 41 minutes.
Trans Canada Airlines
What plane would you have taken with Trans Canada Airlines back in 1963? Chances are for these shorter domestic flights, it was either on a Vickers Viscount, Vickers Vanguard or Douglas DC-3. TCA at the time had Douglas DC-8s and Lockheed Super Constellations for longer hauls.
Trans Canada Airlines was established in 1937 and was renamed Air Canada officially in 1965. However, the Air Canada name had already surfaced unofficially when these ads came out.
This is not the first time we’ve taken a look at old Trans Canada Air Lines advertisements. That link will take you to the previous article about an old TCA ad from 1939.
Unrelated to the world of air travel but something near and dear to the hearts of all Canadians. I assume that at one time Molson Canadian was an ‘import’ for the folks from Newfoundland. I really, really love the free home delivery! Yes – that was FREE.
