Air Canada is singularily responsible for the destruction of the Canadian airline industry
I appreciate that it is hard to be dispassionate when you're personally affected, and recent history tends to obscure the bigger picture. Seems to me the Canadian airline industry pretty much self-destructed.
Not so long ago, it was in reasonable shape - EPA, Quebecair, Nordair, Transair, PWA and of course the transcons. No-one was making money hand-over-fist but all appeared comfortable in their markets. Then Max Ward decided to be a player too. CP's response was a frenzy of acquisition/meger culminating in the disastrous over-priced buyout of Wardair itself. Then to top it all they decided to challenge AC's deep pockets in a no holds barred fare war. Did AC match the fares ? You bet - that's Airline Economy 101.
I may be old with a flawed memory, but I don't recall AC
wanting to absorb CP. Didn't Cullinette make them ? Smart (but painful) thing to have done would be let PWA Corp go under, then AC would still have got the benefit of a 'monopoly' but without the baggage of a takeover. Just MHO.