One On One With Sue Clements

When she was a youngster, Sue Clements and her dad would sit at the end of the runway at YYZ to watch the airplanes taking off and landing. Even then, says Clements, she knew she wanted to work at Air Canada.

And for 35 years and seven months, most recently as director of agency sales, she has worked for the employer she chose as a child. But that will end on April 30 when Clements takes retirement.

Directly out of university, she joined the airline’s reservations department in Toronto. It was an excellent learning experience for about three years but Clements knew that she didn’t want to be in res. for ever, reports Montreal editor, Mike Dunbar in this week’s digital edition of Canadian Travel Press.

“I moved to Montreal for more of what I was looking for,” she recalls, noting that she arrived at head office to work in revenue management.

Several years later, Clements moved into the Montreal sales office, where she handled corporate and convention sales before taking over as general manager of passenger sales for Quebec and Ottawa.

“I loved that job,” she says, but then she got a call from Claude Morin, asking her to join him back at head office as director of agency sales. That was in 1995 and she’s been there ever since.

Morin, who Clements describes as her mentor, retired from Air Canada as global sales VP in 2013.

“It feels like only yesterday” that she moved into the agency sales slot, states Clements, who explains, “There’s been so much change and so much learning that time has flown by. I found my niche here and every day has felt new; keeping me challenged, engaged and motivated.”

For the full story, check out this week’s digital edition of Canadian Travel Press by clicking here.