Air Ontario
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| Founded | June 1987 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | January 2001 | ||||||
| Parent company | Air Canada | ||||||
| Headquarters | London, Ontario Canada | ||||||
| Website | www.airontario.com | ||||||
Air Ontario Inc. was a Canadian airline headquartered in London, Ontario.[1] In 2002 Air Ontario became Air Canada Jazz.[2]
History
Great Lakes Airlines was formed in 1958, becoming Air Ontario Ltd. in 1983 and Air Ontario Inc. in June 1987 [3][2] when James Plaxton purchased Great Lakes Airlines prior to its bankruptcy.[4]
As a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Canada, Air Ontario’s operation increased substantially in the intra-Ontario marketplace with Air Canada’s decision in February 1990, to discontinue Mainline service to North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins and Windsor. Route expansion from Toronto Island Airport to Montreal and Ottawa soon followed, along with the addition of new routes into the United States.
In January 2001, a newly merged carrier called Air Canada Regional Inc. was established. A wholly owned subsidiary of Air Canada, this company combined the individual strengths of four regional airlines—Air BC, Air Nova, Air Ontario, and Canadian Regional Airlines. Consolidation of these four companies was completed in 2002 and was marked by the launch of a new name and brand—Air Canada Jazz.[4]
Fleet
As of 2001, the Air Ontario fleet comprised the following turboprop aircraft:
- Bombardier Dash 8 (formerly de Havilland Canada DHC-8) Series 100 - 41 Aircraft
- Bombardier Dash 8 (formerly de Havilland Canada DHC-8) Series 300 - 7 Aircraft
Total aircraft in fleet in 2001: 48[5]
The airline also previously operated Fokker F28 Fellowship jet aircraft.
Accidents and incidents
- On 1 November 1988, Douglas C-47A C-FBJE crashed into Pikangikum Lake on a domestic cargo flight from Red Lake Airport to Pikangikum Airport. Two of the three people on board were killed.[6]
- On March 10, 1989, Air Ontario Flight 1363, a Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship C-FONF, crashed near Dryden, Ontario immediately after take-off en route from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg via Dryden. The aircraft crashed after only forty-nine seconds after liftoff because it was not able to achieve enough altitude to clear the trees beyond the end of the runway due to ice and snow on the wings, causing the death of 21 of 65 passengers and 3 of 4 crew members. Some of the survivors were able to escape from the plane on their own but the others were carried to safety. The accident happened because the APU (auxiliary power unit) did not work, so the crew had to keep one of the engines running at Dryden. However, the necessary de-icing was only authorised if both the main engines are stopped, Air Ontario forbidding the use of de-icing if one of the engines was running due to the possibility of the fumes being sucked into the air conditioning. Furthermore, if the pilots had shut down the engines, with no APU and with Dryden airport not having the facility to restart the engines, the plane would have been stranded - a situation that was exacerbated by an extended wait on the taxiway while priority was given to an incoming Cessna.
References
- ↑ "Contact." Air Ontario. Retrieved on May 21, 2009. "Head Office: Air Ontario Inc. 1000 Air Ontario Drive London, Ontario Canada N5V 3S4"
- 1 2 Carruthers, Dale (26 December 2013). "Industry insiders say sky's the limit for local commercial flying interests". IFpress. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
- ↑ "Air Ontario Fleet Details and History". Planespotters. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
- 1 2 "Air Ontario & Its Tragic Pair Of F28 Fellowships". Yesterdays Airlines. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
By 1975 the airline was in trouble and was purchased by a partnership including Mr James Plaxton who would later become the 100% owner.
- ↑ "Air Ontario 2001 Fleet". AirFleets.net. March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
- ↑ "C-FBJE Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
External links
- Air Ontario (Archive)
- Air Ontario history page at Air Canada Jazz
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air Ontario. |
