AllCanada Express

All Canada Express was a cargo airline based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It operated nightly flights to some of the major U.S. cargo hubs and to Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

Code Data

*ICAO Code: CNX
*Callsign: Canex

History

The Canadian airline All Canada Express Limited (ACE) was established in 1989 by pilot Murray Lantz and accountant John Mackenzie and was not their first to suffer an ill demise (ref: Tempus Air and Canair Cargo). In 1992 operations started as a dedicated cargo airline with one Convair 580 aircraft. ACE built up to four CV580's and in 1994 received its first contract to fly a Boeing 727 for BAX Global. As of January 2000 ACE was operating eleven Boeing 727 freighter aircraft for UPS, BAX Global, DHL, and Royal Cargo. They were very noticeable in their silver and black paint scheme with an "ACE of Spades" on the tail.

By 2002, ACE grew to a fleet of 12 Boeing 727s, with the most lucrative work being under a wet-lease agreement with CargoJet Canada. [YVR SkyTalk March 2002]

In 2003, CargoJet acquired its own 727 fleet and cancelled its agreement with All Canada Express which subsequently went bankrupt. The airline then moved bases from CYHM to CYYZ, changed names from "All Canada Express Ltd" to "All Canada Express Inc" and was reborn. This time with a fleet of five 727s, the new ACE serviced points between Canada, US, Bermuda, Cuba, and South America.

By 2004, ACE was experiencing its best business ever. It was the only foreign all-cargo airline operating out of Cuba at that time. Aircraft were shuttling mostly fruit and flowers from South America to Cuba and up to Canada. The company was now more profitable operating internationally with its fleet of five aircraft than it had previously been with a dozen.

May 2005 brought the appearance of a DC-10 in ACE livery on an airport ramp in Arizona. This confirmed years of rumour and speculation of an international heavy transport program with DC-10s. Interest was shown in operating to China and possibly further into South America.

In 2005 its pilot group became unionized [Canadian Auto Workers CONTACT Newsletter Volume 35, No. 13] citing the company's failure to maintain minimum standards of the Canada Labour Code and the Canadian Aviation Regulations. The DC-10 program then came to an abrupt end and the aircraft disappeared to Nigeria before making a revenue trip. Soon after, the writing was on the wall for employees when creditors were complaining of outstanding bills, aircraft parts were becoming scarce, and eventually aircraft were not returning to service as major maintenance came due. Major assets were sold to CargoJet under a monetary agreement between ACE, its pilots union, and CargoJet.

ACE again ceased operations due to bankruptcy in late 2005. Creditors were owed 10.3 million dollars. [KPMG Inc. - Trustee in bankruptcy] The directors of the company, Murray Lantz and John Mackenzie are currently being sought by Human Resources Canada to pay outstanding wages in the amount of $530,000 as of mid 2006 [HRSDC Assignment No.: MI0O3142]

Former office staff and maintenance have scattered. Some took jobs at CargoJet. Management and non-union pilots were accepted at CargoJet, the rest found work throughout Canada (some at Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter), and others abroad. Former ACE aircraft are now at DAS Air Cargo, Allied Air Cargo, and can be seen derelict at CYYZ and CYHM airports.

Fleet

The All Canada Express fleet consists of the following aircraft (at August 2006) [Flight International, 3-9 October 2006] :

*2 Boeing 727-200F

Previously operated:
*1 Bombardier Learjet 35A

References

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://allcanadaexpress.com All Canada Express (at archive.org)]
* [http://www.exace.ca/ AllCanada Express Photo Gallery]