Air Canada brought out the star power of one of the world's most recognized entertainers Tuesday, as it unveiled its new image. But some found the glitzy spectacle a little hard to take.

At a morning performance in a Toronto airport hangar, Celine Dion took her place on stage at a huge party for employees. Dressed in the Air Canada uniform of Midnight Blue with Silver Sky lining, Dion sang three songs to a crowd of delighted employees and media members.

Backed by a choir of Air Canada employees chosen through nationwide auditions, the songs included, "You and I Were Meant to Fly."

Behind the Quebec-born songstress stood a Boeing 767-300 painted in the airline's new colour scheme of a silvery white body and a green tail with a red maple leaf. Following a quasi-fashion show to show off the new uniforms, execs unveiled the airline's new in-flight entertainment systems and premium lie-flat seating for Executive First customers.

Dion and Air Canada executives then jetted to Montreal for an afternoon encore. On Wednesday, the party continues with more of the same in Calgary and Vancouver.

The events are billed as a way to boost morale at the airline, which has just emerged from 18 months of bankruptcy protection. But some union leaders wondered if it was the right thing to do.

Air Canada laid off thousands of workers during its restructuring. And unionized workers gave up more than $1 billion a year in salaries and benefits, and made numerous concessions in working conditions.

The Canadian Auto Workers' Gary Fane said he was miffed by the lavish expenditure.

"I'll always think that money could be better spent on the workers. I'll always think that, no matter if they bring the Pope in," he said.

Air Canada CEO Robert Milton refused to say how much the kickoff cost, though industry experts say it was likely several million dollars.

But he justified the new branding -- that features Dion as the face of the new Air Canada, promoting the airline in in-flight music videos, and television commercials -- as money well spent .

"All successful companies invest in their product and their image and we've done precisely that after having dramatically changed the face of the airline,'' he said.

"As a large corporation we have significant budgets for items like advertising, and this fits comfortably within that budget."

Business strategist Joe D'Cruz isn't sure any of the spending will make a difference with travellers.

"People will be asking themselves: why are they spending all this money on stuff that doesn't really matter? Having Celine Dion doesn't make your flight more comfortable, it doesn't lower fares. It doesn't do anything for the passengers and it doesn't do anything for the employees," D'Cruz says.

"So I think they will face a bit of a backlash with this new launch."

But airline analyst Rick Erickson says the airline is making the right move.

"Part of the success that this company is going to enjoy in the future is a change in its corporate culture, in its workforce, in how they look and how they do business," he says.

Analysts say Air Canada's big marketing push is not aimed so much at winning business now going to WestJet, Jetsgo or other domestic carriers. Instead, the airline is aiming its Celine Dion campaign at the international market, trying to take travellers from British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and other foreign carriers.

Air Canada announced last week it estimates its passenger revenues will increase by about 12 per cent over the third quarter of 2003, while unit costs will be reduced by four per cent. And its parent company is forecasting third-quarter operating income of $235 million -- up from $17 million a year ago.