Today’s flight was on my usual commuting route from Vancouver to Ottawa. I was booked into an Air Canada Business Class Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, which features their newest narrow body business class experience. Today’s flight was pretty straightforward; the usual product related to Air Canada’s Fleet along with their usual professional crisp Service. I reviewed this product several times before, including only two months ago. Today’s flight was not much different. At least Air Canada offers a fairly consistent product.

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This post is one chapter on a spring trip to Ottawa, Canada. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Air Canada Aeroplan and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: Air Canada Business Class B737 Max 8, Vancouver International Airport – Ottawa 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 to the capital city was on a trans-continental flight on an Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8’s. As more and more of these aircraft come into service, Air Canada has been replacing their old Airbus series aircraft.

Checking into Air Canada Business Class:

As usual, I used my smartphone and the Air Canada app to check in. My pre-assigned seat (2D) in the second row of the aircraft was assigned to me. I was assigned to the top boarding group, group one.

I was travelling with “carry on” only for this particular flight. Since the “C” Gates CATSO security check point was still under renovation, I headed upstairs to the Trusted Traveller security screening checkpoint. Since no one has really found this place yet, I was through without any wait and back down to the main concourse “C” finger without any delay.

Today’s flight was boarding from Vancouver International Airport Gate C48. After a brief announcement, it was time to board.

Air Canada
AC 342 – Business Class (Z)
YVR – YOW (Vancouver International Airport – Ottawa International Airport)
April 24, 2024
8:15 AM – 3:55 PM
Booked: Boeing 737-Max8
Flown: Boeing 737-Max8

On Board Air Canada Business Class:

This flight is a usual route for my current business travels. It’s worth mentioning that Air Canada only runs one or two nonstop services between Vancouver and Ottawa every day. If you’re very lucky, you’ll end up on a widebody Boeing 787–9 aircraft with a nice executive pod.

You will likely find yourself on a Boeing 737 Max 8, which is their newest narrowbody aircraft with their newest business class cabin.

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

In my case, in order to save my company a little bit of money, I ended up on the first available flight from Vancouver to Ottawa. This flight departed at 8:15 AM.

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.

Even though I adore window seats, as I become older, I’ve noticed that I tend to favour the aisle seats on lengthy transcontinental trips that last longer than four hours. I found my designated seat in 3D and got comfortable for the ride.

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 didn’t find that the foot rest added any comfort to my flight.

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:

Air Canada continues to simply offers a small bottle of Naya Water which was waiting on the seat. There was no purser introduction today.

Another item from pre-departure services that has disappeared is the printed menu. The menu was available through the Air Canada App. I was able to download a copy before the flight.

Once again, the regular Air Canada parsley omelet made another morning appearance. Having recently flown Alaska Airlines First Class during breakfast hour, it really goes to show how dated and stale the Parsley Omelette menu option is.

The Meal: Breakfast

Todays flight was about four hours and forty five minutes marked at four hours and twenty minutes gate to gate. We got underway out of Vancouver on Runway 16L.

After about one hour of flight time, and our arrival to altitude, breakfast was served.

The breakfast service started with a warmed towel service. Air Canada towels aren’t super luxurious. Instead, they are pretty standard variety and more functional than fancy.

Despite my better judgement, I went with another parsley omelette, despite being more interested in having a different breakfast. I think it was craving the meat option instead of the meatless french toast offering. This was paired with a morning coffee.

Breakfast was served with a firm ciabatta styled warmed roll, īögo yoghurt, along with mixed fruits.

I’m not sure if I can actually critique the parsley omelet anymore than I already have. While it’s a staple on the menu, it’s surely a tired one.

After breakfast, we had a water service. This was served in a glass cup.

Second Service: A Snack Basket

About three quarters of the way through the flight, Air Canada flight attendants came around with a snack basket. There were a few items in the snack basket that were a bit more robust than what you might find on a comparable US carrier.

Today’s snack basket was not any different than any of my past flights. The snack basket contain Miss Vickies potato chips, specialty pretzels, licorices, KitKat milk chocolate and Lindor dark chocolate chocolate bars. This was accompanied by a bar and beverage service along with warmed nuts.

I ended up having to wait for a double serving of snacks since Air Canada doesn’t load all that much on for the snack basket. As a result, they frequently run out of snack items.

I ended up with a Canada Dry Ginger Ale. This was followed up by Miss Vickie potato chips and a Kit Kat.

In Fight Entertainment:

During the flight, I played around with the in flight entertainment system. The flight entertainment system offered a large easy to view screen with movies, television shows and a moving map that allowed for great location spotting.

Air Canada has recently expanded their international film offerings. Today’s flight I entertain myself with the Vancouver filmed Jackie Chan movie “Rumble in the Bronx“.

It’s supposed to be set in New York City but through Manny since you can see Vancouver’s North Shore Mountains. Quite a dated, but entertaining film.

Landing at Ottawa International Airport:

Before knew it, we were descending at Ottawa International Airport.

We arrived at gate 27, which is located in the far end of the Ottawa international airport terminal. Ottawa international Airport has relocated most of its west coast flights down to the far end.

I had a medium walk to the security checkpoint where I exited the concourse and headed down towards baggage claim. I didn’t have any bags to pick up, so it was a quick jaunt over to Hertz rental to pick up the rental for the week.

I transferred over by a rental car to the Delta Ottawa City Centre hotel and tucked in for the night.

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.

This flight was another trans continental one that was pretty uneventful. I went back to the usual parsley omelet which was feeling a lot more tired based on my recent Alaska Airlines First Class flights which had much better breakfasts.

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If you’ve flown Air Canada Business Class morning flights, how are you getting around the parsley omelette being everywhere and on every flight ?

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