Tonight’s Air Canada Business Class flight was on a Boeing 737 – Max Eight aircraft. This was the last flight of the day out of Toronto Pearson International airport. On top of that, I ended up having an additional two hour flight delay on top of our late scheduled departure time. By the time we were on the way, I was pretty knackered. Despite this I had a late dinner on board and slept most of the way home. Read on to see what a late night Business Class service looks like out of Toronto International Airport.

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Review: Air Canada Business Class B737 Max 8, Toronto Pearson International Airport – Vancouver International Airport

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My travel schedule ended up on another work trip back our national’s capital in Ottawa, Canada. Today’s travel took me back from Ottawa to Vancouver via Air Canada Rouge Business Class Ottawa – Toronto, then connecting onwards to this flight on Air Canada Business Class Toronto – Vancouver.

Today’s flight was on a now familiar Air Canada Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft.

Connecting at Toronto Pearson International Airport:

We had a slow arrival into Toronto on my arriving flight Air Canada Rouge Business Class Ottawa – Toronto. While I waited for gate, I eventually got off my inbound flight over one hour late. With this flight scheduled to leave within twenty five minutes, I ran over to my connecting gate at D22. Fortunately, when I arrived, there was a distinct lack of activity that’s quite common at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

While I was waiting for the aircraft, I did my usual check on the Air Canada app to see what the upgrade situation was like. The flight was completely full with quite a number of people upgraded into the 16 person business class cabin.

With the lack of baggage handlers, I would end up in a long ninety minute rolling delay. Unfortunately, with this delay, it would end up in Air Canada loosing my checked baggage for this flight. Eventually, after an additional ninety minutes added to the schedule, I would end up getting on board.

Air Canada
AC 129 – Business Class (Z)
YYZ – YVR (Toronto Pearson International Airport – Vancouver International Airport)
February 14, 2025
Scheduled: 11:00 PM – 1:11 AM + 1 Actual: 12:21 AM – 2:44 AM
Booked: Boeing 737-Max8
Flown: Boeing 737-Max8

On Board Air Canada Business Class:

The Air Canada Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft is now the backbone of Air Canada’s narrow body fleet. It offers a 2 – 2 configuration across four rows of business class totalling sixteen seats.

I ended up in Seat 2D for today’s flight. I’ve taken to using the aisle seats more often on the trans continental flights.

I have reviewed the Air Canada Boeing 737 max aircraft on several occasions previously. Please see the following posts if you’d like a little more description of the cabin.

• Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Ottawa
• Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Phoenix
• Air Canada Business Class: Calgary – Vancouver
• Air Canada Business Class: Ottawa – Vancouver

The Air Canada Boeing 737 Max Business Class cabin features four rows of business class using slim line seats. The cabin is set up in a 2–2 configuration and features an attractive black and gray colour scheme.

The Air Canada Business Class cabin offers a somewhat flimsy retractable foot rest that is tucked away under the seat in front of you. Given my large frame at 6’2″, I don’t tend to use or find any comfort in the foot rest.

In general, the Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8’s upgraded business class cabin is far superior to the Air Canada Airbus Series short-haul aircraft’s legacy product which is getting quite outdated. The interior of the Boeing 737 is designed to contain and keep electronics while they charge, and the seats are generally more comfortable. As a result, my favourite Air Canada short-haul business class cabin is the 737 max.

Pre Departure Services:

Given we were already late, there wasn’t much in the form of any pre-departure services. It turned out that they actually weren’t able to cater the flight in a timely manner, adding to our ninety minute delay.

Another item from pre-departure services that has disappeared was the printed menu. The menu was available through the Air Canada App. I was able to download a copy before the flight. However, there were a few flight attendant / passenger discussions for those that didn’t have the opportunity to check the menu in advance.

The Meal: Late Dinner

After a ninety minute delay, we flew out of Toronto Pearson International Airport. Eventually we got to altitude and the dinner service started.

While it was late, I ended up taking one for the team and going through the full dinner meal service. Given that it was well past my workday, I ended up going for a white wine with a mixed nut mix.

Feeling adventurous, for the main course, I went with the Honey Ginger Sesame Chicken with shaodong flat noodles, carrots, bok choy and edename. It was served with a heritage mixed salad with julienne apples and pomegranate seeds.

While the salad was about “as expected”, the honey ginger chicken was absolutely inedible. It was tough, tasteless and stringy. While it was likely intended to be a lighter option, it was certainly lacking in taste.

Overall, I’ve found more recently that Air Canada catering is lacking a lot when compared to it’s competitors. The food taste isn’t all to exciting, along with the options being generally quite bland in taste.

Second Service: A Snack Basket

About three quarters of the way through the flight, Air Canada flight attendants came around with a snack basket.

I ended up being completely sacked out and asleep by this time. As a result, I didn’t enjoy any snacks in the second service.

The snack basket typically contains Miss Vickies potato chips, specialty pretzels, licorices, KitKat milk chocolate and Lindor dark chocolate chocolate bars.

Landing at Vancouver International Airport:

I eventually arrived to Vancouver International Airport at about 3 AM, a good two hours after my scheduled arrival time.

As can be expected, my checked bag was left behind in Toronto. I’d spend the next three days getting reunited with it.

Unfortunately, this is almost par for the course when travelling through Toronto International Airport. It’s become the reason why I try to travel with “carry on only” for most work trips where at all possible.

The Bottom Line: Air Canada Business Class B737-Max 8

The Air Canada Business Class on the Boeing 737 Max 8 is a pretty reasonable way to get across the country. While it is not a fully flat seat, it’s much more comfortable than flying in economy class.

While most my trans continental flights are pretty uneventful, this one was marked with a late departure out of Toronto, and my baggage being left behind. While I don’t make a habit of arriving at the airport at 3 AM, unfortunately, that’s what happened tonight.

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If you’ve flown Air Canada Business Class, have you gotten tired of the catering ?

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