While provincial and federal ministers this week revived pleas for the nation’s citizens to “buy Canadian” in the fallout of torpedoed Canada-U.S. trade talks, the country’s largest airline is offering business class passengers American bourbon.
As reported by Global News, a subsequently removed social media post Monday claimed Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey was being served to those seated in business class during an Air Canada flight out of Montreal.
Air Canada told National Post in a statement that, “As a global airline transporting international customers including to and from the U.S, Air Canada carries a range of onboard products that reflects our customer preferences.”
At least one Canadian wine is featured on every international flight, “and we’ve made a deliberate shift toward Canadian spirits and Canadian producers,” Air Canada said. “In addition to the range of Canadian products we proudly feature, we also carry some internationally recognized products that are particularly important to our global customer base, including U.S. bourbon, which is available in Business (Signature) Class only.”
Air Canada isn’t alone. In a statement to National Post, Air Transat said that, in addition to a growing selection of Canadian products, the airline’s onboard offerings “include some spirits made in the United States.”
“We continuously review our onboard offering based on several factors, including customer feedback and operational requirements,” a spokesperson said
“When local products meet these criteria, we are proud to feature them onboard. Most recently, we added six Canadian and Quebec brands to our Bistro menus as part of our ongoing efforts to increase the presence of local products.”
In a statement to National Post, Porter Airlines said it “emphasizes partnering with high-quality Canadian brands whenever possible,” such as Jackson Triggs wine from Niagara and Alberta-based Tumbler & Rocks cocktails, but that no American alcohol is served on board.