Greyhound Air was a short-lived Canadian discount airline. Launched by

Greyhound Canada Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC began as a local British Columbia bus line in the early 1920s, expanded across most of Canada, and became a subsidiary of the US Greyhound in 1940. In 2018, Greyhound pulled out of Western Canada, preserving ...

, the airline ceased 14 months later in September 1997, when

Laidlaw Laidlaw (), organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. (with corporate headquarters in Naperville, Illinois) was the largest provider of intercity bus services, contract public transit and paratransit, and contract school bus service in both ...

acquired the Canadian bus line.

Proposal

Greyhound USA had suffered the incursion of the low-cost air offensive. In Canada,

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

appeared increasingly threatening. Growth prospects depended upon luring more car users onto Greyhound buses and airplanes. The target market was leisure and cost-conscious travellers, who would typically drive between medium-sized Canadian cities. Theoretically, the existing Greyhound bus routes could seamlessly connect into air travel, providing a comprehensive yet affordable travel network. In late 1995, Greyhound announced its intention to launch a discount airline to complement its coach network.

Operations

Kelowna Flightcraft (KF), a cargo operator based out of British Columbia, provided aircraft and crew. However, because KF held the domestic airline licence, Greyhound could not legally display its name on the aircraft. The airline ran a notable ad campaign which featured a

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

dog lifting its leg to urinate against the wheel of an airplane. During September 1996, a price war erupted with competitors. Although Greyhound experienced load factors exceeding 80 per cent, it sustained a loss of $10M during the first five months of operation.

Destinations

Based at the

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

(YWG) hub, scheduled flight destinations were: * Calgary (YYC) *

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

(YEG) *

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

(YHM) * Kelowna (YLW) * Ottawa (YOW) *

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

(YYZ) *

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

(YVR)

Fleet

The fleet comprised seven 727-200s. The archaic 727s experienced high operating costs, requiring a third crew member in the cockpit and were also less fuel efficient than WestJet’s 737s.

Shortcomings

Evidencing weak business strategy, the airline failed to understand its passengers and competitors, and created a high-cost ineffective company. In this regard, the carrier never defined a true competitive advantage. Bypassing travel agents until April 1997, which sold 80 per cent of airline tickets at the time, automatically excluded a large passenger base. Logistically, weaving air service into the existing bus network was not only complex but impractical. The hub-and-spoke model through Winnipeg increased passenger travel time, offering a less appealing experience than a point-to-point system. Foreign ownership issues hampered obtaining a domestic airline licence, delaying the launch by several months and missing out on the lucrative early-summer traffic. The employee culture was ill-equipped for the intensity of an airline startup, which needed to attract candidates focused upon positivity and drive, and to offer employees motivational rewards.

References