As President and CEO of Canada's largest and most influential airline, Robert Milton has presided over the most tumultuous period of the airline industry's history. He gives us his forthright, brutally honest views about the challenges of his job, as well as his vision for Air Canada as it restructures itself into a cost-competitive, full-service airline. Milton goes behind the boardroom doors to reveal the truth about events in the past decade. In addition, Milton explains what drives his passion for this business and offers a fascinating glimpse into the workings of a major airline. Milton is admired by many as an industry visionary and brilliant airline strategist, and his impact on the international airline industry has been significant. This book is sure to appeal to anyone interested in what makes the man tick or in what the future holds for Air Canada.

No Canadian company today holds a higher profile than Air Canada; few CEOs possess the recognition factor of its chief, Robert Milton. But in 2003, their notoriety is for all the wrong reasons: in less than four years under Milton's command, Air Canada has gone from unrivalled industry giant to a wounded behemoth seeking bankruptcy protection. Was it mismanagement, government interference, a radically changed global environment, or just plain bad luck that brought down Canada's national flag carrier? Air Monopoly answers the question with a penetrating examination of a glamorous, high-risk business that attracts more than its share of dreamers and egotists. Milton, a life-long aviation enthusiast, took the controls at Air Canada at age thirty-nine in 1999. Within weeks he was battling a hostile takeover bid by investor Gerry Schwartz who intended to merge Air Canada with its chief competitor, Canadian Airlines. After a legal, political, and public-relations free-for-all, it was Milton who took over Canadian, then merged the two into a cumbersome monopoly that left cabinet ministers uneasy, consumers fuming, and ambitious small competitors eager to challenge Air Canada's supremacy. Four scrappy upstarts would disappear in the attempt to wrest market share from a dominant carrier prepared to engage in cutthroat tactics against any competition. When a fifth - WestJet - started to make real gains, Milton diversified his brand in an attempt to be all things to all travellers. Then came a global economic downturn, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, andwars in Afghanistan and Iraq, events that altered the aviation industry forever. Milton managed Air Canada through its most serious operational crisis ever, but since then questionable decisions, bad timing, and hubris have sent Air Canada into a tailspin, threatening its very existence.

Begun as a social experiment in 1937, Air Canada has evolved into one of the world's greatest airlines, an integral part of this country's social fabric. During the course of its 75-year history, the airline was privatized, fought off a hostile takeover, merged with arch-rival Canadian Airlines, and touched countless lives. This is its story.

"Beautifully illustrated and dramatically told, this is the story of Canada's most recognized visual emblem, its proudest national icon, and its most successful brand logo: the red maple leaf flag. Our flag is seen by millions of Canadians every day and by millions more people around the world. Its elegantly simple design is instantly identifiable, whether worn as a shoulder patch on the uniform of a Canadian peacekeeper or held high by the athlete chosen to lead Canada's team into the Olympic stadium. At home, we encounter the maple leaf symbol wherever we look: along the Trans-Canada Highway, at the entrance to national parks, flying over more than 20,000 federal government offices, in the skies on Air Canada planes. From bacon and beer to berets and badges, the stylized red maple leaf has become our nation's most successful brand and visual emblem. "I Stand for Canada chronicles the evolution of the maple leaf as Canada's pre-eminent symbol, from its first appearance in French colonial times to its ubiquitous 21st-century presence, central to the corporate identity programs of countless companies and organizations. The distinctive shape of the native sugar maple leaf was familiar to every settler of New France and then of British North America; it was the first emblem of the St. Jean Baptiste Society, founded in 1834, and in 1860 it was incorporated into the badge of the Royal Canadian Regiment. By Confederation, it was a widely accepted motif for the new nation; that year Alexander Muir composed "The Maple Leaf Forever," which served as its informal anthem. The majority of badges worn by soldiers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I incorporated the mapleleaf into their design, and the Canadians who fought in Europe under a British flag returned home with a newly minted sense of national identity, made material by the maple leaf emblems they'd worn into battle. Parliament's first two attempts to establish a distinct Canadian flag, in 1925 and 1946, ended in stalemate, and it was not until 1964, when the nation was almost a century old, that Prime Minister Lester Pearson dared to inaugurate the political debate that would decide the issue. The entire country got into the fight, and the flag threatened to divide the country instead of bringing it together. In desperation, Pearson agreed to turn the decision over to an all-party committee, which considered several thousand possible designs, including offerings from the Group of Seven's A.J. Casson and A.Y. Jackson. After the longest debate in Canadian parliamentary history, the House of Commons voted to adopt the flag committee's surprisingly successful compromise. On February 15, 1965, Canada's official flag was raised for the first time on Parliament Hill. In the 37 years since, the maple leaf flag has become our symbol of national pride, the unique and perfect Canadian logo - and Canadians, for all their supposed reticence, have become a nation of exuberant flag-wavers. "I Stand for Canada is the first comprehensive work on the origins, evolution, political history, and cultural significance of Canada's flag, one that combines rare archival illustrations and stunning contemporary images with a richly detailed and engaging narrative.

Italy is a country synonymous with style and beauty in all aspects of life: the rich history of Rome, Renaissance art of Florence, graceful canals of Venice, high fashion of Milan, signature pasta alla bolognese of Bologna, colorful architecture of Portofino and winking blue waters of Capri and the Amalfi Coast, among many others. Italians themselves live effortlessly amid all this splendor, knowing instinctively just the type of outfit to throw on, design element to balance, or delectable ingredient to add.

Whether you are an aviation enthusiast, history buff, or air traveller, don't miss the third in a series of photo essays on aviation in Canada, covering almost 100 years of flight by Canadians. Dramatic visuals accompany each step of aviation's advances, from Canada's first military aircraft to the Harvard II, from the earliest bush planes to the Bombardier Global Express. This comprehensive history showcases 50 aircraft. Whether famous or forgotten, all were designed, built, and/or flown by Canadians.

The recruitment process at any large airline can be a daunting process and may be the most significant milestone in a professional pilot's career. This book is intended to guide candidates through the entire application and screening processes, enabling better understanding of Air Canada's selection techniques and expectations.

Recounts the remarkable story of Air Canada Flight 143, which lost all power at 41,000 feet when it ran out of fuel, leaving pilot Bob Pearson the near-impossible task of landing it safely