Air Ontario

Air Ontario Inc. was a Canadian airline now part of Air Canada Jazz. It was headquartered in London, Ontario.

History


Air Ontario Inc. was established in June 1987, with the merger of Austin Airways, Canada’s oldest airline, which began service in 1934, and Air Ontario Ltd. (formerly Great Lakes Airlines, formed in 1958).

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.

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.
 * On March 10, 1989, Air Ontario Flight 1363, operated by 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.