Canadien Excellence | 1995

(TOP)
Airline - Air Canadien
Aircraft - Boeing 737-500 | C-CELA
Delivered to Air Canadien, 1988
Livery - Standard 1995
Country - Canada

(BOTTOM)
Airline - Air Canadien
Aircraft - Boeing 777-200 | C-CPER
Delivered to Air Canadien, 1995
Stored at Victorville, 2002
Sold to Dojo Air, 2005
Sold to Matadair, 2007
Sold to ILFC, 2008
Leased to JetUSA, 2008
Returned to ILFC, 2014
Leased to Saguaro, 2014
Returned to ILFC, 2015
Stored at Pinal Airpark, 2015
Livery - Standard 1995
Country - Canada

In 1995, Air Canadien rebranded, changing its livery to a mainly maroon color. The Fleur du Canada logo remained the same, however the wordmark changed significantly. Although initially considered a radical departure from the previous brande image, the 1995 rebranding eventually became very popular with both employees and customers of Air Canadien. The livery was introduced on the Boeing 777-200 (called the -200A at the time), the first few of which were delivered in 1995, beginning to operate European routes the same year. Seventeen would be operated by Air Canadien - more were ordered, but most orders were converted to the 777-200ER (-200B at the time), and all non-ER 777-200s were retired in 2002 following the downturn in the airline industry.

Pictured above the 777-200 is the 737-500, operated by Air Canadien since 1988. While the medium-range fleet was based mostly around various DC-9 and MD-80 variants, ten 737-500s were (and continue to be) flown on select routes within Canada. The rugged structure of the aircraft also allows it to sub in for Dash 8s when increased demand exists - landing on short and less-well-maintained runways. These aircraft were also occasionally used as a last-minute replacement for MD-80s on flights to the US and Caribbean when maintenance issues required an aircraft swap.