“That’s One of Ours!” — The Glory Days of the Small Stations

There was a time, back in the heyday—and I won’t mention exactly when—when seniority at a smaller Canadian station could get you what seemed like the best deal in the airline business.

Sure, you could work in Toronto, handling 10 or 12 flights a day, running from one aircraft to another and constantly chasing the clock. But if you had the seniority, you could transfer to a much smaller station and still make the same money.

And the best part? Housing was far more affordable back then. You could own a nice home without needing a second mortgage just to pay for the garage.

At these smaller stations, you might show up for work, look at your block, and think, “That’s it?” Instead of 10 or 12 flights a day, you might be lucky to handle two.

Of course, the smaller crews had to do everything. You weren’t just handling the ground operation. You were responsible for cabin service, lavatory servicing, water, meals and catering—and, depending on the station, sometimes even fueling the aircraft.

And forget about punching in and out on a time clock. It was the honor system.

You’d walk into the station, see the boss and simply say:

“Hi, Boss. I’m here.”

But the absolute best part of working at one of these smaller stations was how close you lived to the airport.

Picture this.

You’re in your backyard on a beautiful summer afternoon, having a BBQ with the boys. Everyone is sitting around on lawn chairs, enjoying the sunshine, drinking a few Molson stubbies and talking about absolutely nothing important.

Then suddenly…

ROOOOOOOOAAARRRR!

An aircraft comes flying overhead.

You look up, see the tail and recognize the livery.

“Hey! That’s one of ours!”

Immediately, the BBQ is over.

“Pack it up, boys. Back to work!”

And the best part? Your house might not even be five minutes from the airport. Plenty of time to run inside, change into your work clothes, grab your gear and get back to the station.

Try doing that at Toronto today!

Some of the Ontario stations included YSB Sudbury, YYB North Bay, YTS Timmins, Dryden and Sarnia, just to name a few.

For the crews working at these stations, life was pretty sweet. They were making good airline wages, living in affordable communities, owning homes and working in a much slower-paced environment.

But eventually, the good times came to an end.

When the parent airline decided in the early 1990s to stop serving many of these smaller stations, those ramp crews suddenly had some serious decisions to make.

Some retired.

Others had to transfer back to the larger stations—Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and elsewhere—and return to the reality of big-station operations.

Gone were the two-flight days.

Gone were the backyard BBQs where you could hear your aircraft flying overhead.

Gone was the five-minute commute home.

And gone was the luxury of looking at your day’s work schedule and thinking:

“Only two flights today? I can live with that!”

It was a different era in the airline business.

And for those who lived it, it wasn’t just a job.

It was a pretty damn good life.