page_title: Air Transat
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: Air Transat / History / Early years
caption_attribution_description: English: Air Transat headquarters, Montreal, Quebec, CanadaFrançais&#160;: Air Transat siège social, Montréal, Québec, Canada
context_page_description: Air Transat is a Canadian airline based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1986, it is the country's third-largest airline, operating scheduled and charter flights, serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. Air Transat is owned and operated by Transat A.T. Inc., having a fleet of 44 aircraft.
context_section_description: François Legault founded Air Transat with other business partners such as Jean-Marc Eustache, Philippe Sureau, Lina de Cesare, Yvon Lecavalier, and Pierre Ménard. Legault left the company in 1997 with no forewarning after a dispute with business partners, who only found out after the fact.
  Air Transat made its inaugural flight on November 14, 1987, travelling from Montreal to Acapulco. Six years later, Air Transat assumed defunct Nationair's maintenance base and aircraft. Today, the company books over 3.5 million passengers a year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transat A.T. Inc.
  Air Transat is now one of Canada's largest airlines, after Air Canada and WestJet. Air Transat has 5,000 employees. On February 13, 2011, Air Transat Flight TS163 operated with their first all-female flight crew from Cancun to Vancouver. The airline has won many awards, including the 2012, 2018 and 2019 Skytrax World's Best Leisure Airline Awards.
  On February 13, 2009, Transat A.T. announced a five-year partnership with CanJet. Since 1 May 2009, Transat Tours Canada has chartered CanJet's Boeing 737 aircraft flying from Canadian cities to various destinations. This replaced an agreement with Calgary-based Westjet.
caption: Air Transat's headquarters, located in Montreal
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