I'm not going to pretend I follow Air Canada closely nor do I ride their planes often but on the several occasions that I have, I've always thought to myself "There is no way you can compete with WestJet.". By comparison, WestJet flights are usually cheaper, their leather seats are more comfortable and your personal satellite tv makes any flight go much faster. Not only that, my family seems to have had bad luck with lost baggage on Air Canada. When at all possible, I tend to avoid Air Canada flights.
I was, however, pleasantly surprised when I boarded an Air Canada flight from New York to Toronto. The hour and half flight featured new seats and a personal touch screen in front of each passenger. From the screen, you could choose from movies (Hollywood or smaller productions), tv shows, music or even games (there's an USB port to connect a keyboard). Normally, this short flight wouldn't have allowed for one to watch a movie but because of airport delays and problems with our airplane, I was able to fire up Mission Impossible 3. It's wasn't just the touch screen that made the difference but also the attention to small details. At one point, our plane had to be completely shut down for 3 minutes and when my screen returned, I was able to start the movie where I left off. These are the things that separate one from their competitors and brings Air Canada back into the competitive game.
Air Canada WestJet flights