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Taken 23 June 2006 from Toronto, ON (Lester B. Pearson International Airport) - YYZ to Glasgow, Scotland (Abbotsichn) - GLA

Impartiality is a very difficult perspective to achieve, I have all my life however, made strenuous attempts to remove favouritism from my thoughts.

Zoom Airlines was my choice of carrier to Scotland after several bad experiences over many years with Air Transat. I had no idea whether Zoom would fall into the same pathetic category when my wife and I booked our tickets. From the online booking form to actually stepping on the plane, it really was a gamble.

Perhaps that isn't entirely true. In 2005 whilst waiting at Glasgow Airport for my flight, I took the liberty of asking the taxi drivers for feedback on airlines from Canada. Let's face it, taxi drivers are modern day psychologists.. they talk to everyone.

"Well we're really not allowed to say either way about airlines" was the poignant generic reply from the guys. But when pushed for more info I did get the response "We hear a lot of good comments about Zoom". Perfect I thought... an unbiased opinion from drivers who talk to people fresh off the plane.

And so to the experiences with my wife and I. The price of the return fare was comparable with Air Transat (nearest competition) In reality $100 or so would not sway me either way. Zoom's aircraft have an average age of 10 years, Air Transat have a younger fleet. Zoom's Boeing 767 is a transatlantic workhorse, but low on frills and average on comfort.

I did find the seat pitch of our Zoom aircraft to be a few inches more generous than the equivalent of Air Transat. It was not luxury please don't misunderstand me, but it was more than adequate considering my 6'1" frame.

Where Zoom rises above AT is in service (and legroom). Our flight from Toronto to Glasgow was an astonishingly fast 5 hours and 40 minutes due to a headwind. It was pretty much impossible to sleep because the flight crew were forever coming around with food, snacks, drink... you name it. The tray in front of you never seemed to be folded up, it either had food on it or the empty meal container. Quite amazing.

Entertainment isn't really my thing on an aircraft, I much prefer to look out the window and take photos. The TV set up was pretty standard although I did find the location map, ground speed & temperature very interesting.

The pilots were quite informative, yet not obtrusive. The Captain announced to us that we were passing a 747 freighter flying below us that could be viewed on the left side of the aircraft (no I was on the other side). It was things like that that promoted the human elements of the flight.

The descent was impeccable, which I should mention now was executed by a female first officer. There was no knife piercing pain in my ears from 36,000 feet all the way down, except for the normal need to swallow to equalize the pressure.

Overall my wife and I were very happy with the service that Zoom gave us. So much so that we will be flying with them again in May of 2007. This time my Stepson will be coming with us. Thanks to a great flight last year, Zoom can add about $2400.00 to their coffers. The positive advertisement for their Company by writing reports like this... is somewhat priceless.

Thanks for reading.

Martin & Leslie.