West Wind Aviation Limited Partnership was a

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

based airline.

Destinations

Under its ExpressAir banner, West Wind formerly offered scheduled service between Regina,

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

and Prince Albert. Service in northern

and Nunavut were provided under the

Pronto Airways Pronto Airways LP was an airline formed in 2006 that was based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It operated scheduled and charter passenger services as well as cargo service until the airline ceased operations in 2015. Its main bases were Pri ...

banner. In 2015 West Wind Aviation absorbed Osprey Wings which was established in 1979. Its main commercial rival was Prince Albert-based Transwest Air which became a subsidiary of West Wind Aviation July 1, 2016, and all scheduled flights are operated by Transwest. In January 2021, it was announced West Wind Aviation will be merged with Transwest Air and renamed ''Rise Air''.

Fleet

As of February 2020, West Wind Aviation had the following aircraft registered with

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transporta ...

. In addition the

site lists a

Cessna 414 The Cessna 414 is an American light, pressurized, twin-engine transport aircraft built by Cessna. It first flew in 1968 and an improved variant was introduced from 1978 as the 414A Chancellor. Design and development The pressurized 414 was dev ...

and three Cessna 401s (one

Cessna 401 Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...

and two Cessna 401B) with cancelled certificates.

Aviation services

West Wind operates fixed-base operations at the Saskatoon and Regina airports under

Shell Canada Shell Canada Limited (french: Shell Canada Limitée) is the principal Canadian subsidiary of British energy major Shell plc and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a maj ...

's AeroCentre franchise. Under the International Air Services brand, West Wind provides airport terminal services to charter and international airlines at the Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg airports. In addition, under the Lancaster Fuel brand, the company provides aviation fuel to smaller airports and private operators in the province.

Accidents

* West Wind Aviation Flight 280, an ATR42 aircraft crashed with 22 passengers and 3 crew on board at

Fond-du-Lac Fond du Lac Dene Nation ( chp, Gánį Kóé) is a Dene First Nation located in the boreal forest area of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The main settlement is Fond-du-Lac, situated on the east side of Lake Athabasca. It is a remote fly-in com ...

, approximately 1 km from the airport, immediately after taking off from the airport, on December 13, 2017. The aircraft was destroyed but everyone on board initially survived, 1 passenger died of his injuries 12 days later.

Repercussions

On December 22, 2017, West Wind Aviation's air operator certificate was suspended by Transport Canada. Transport Canada cited the reason in a news release stating that the airline has deficiencies in its safety management system. Transport Canada also mentioned that the airline lost its Operator Certificate in the interest of public safety. "In the interest of public safety, Transport Canada suspended West Wind Aviation's Air Operator Certificate and will not allow the company to resume its commercial air service until it demonstrates compliance with aviation safety regulations". Transport Canada reinstated West Wind's license to operate on May 8, 2018. Operations have since resumed.

References

External links

West Wind Aviation official siteExpress Air
{{Saskatoon Corporations Defunct airlines of Canada Airlines established in 1983 Airlines disestablished in 2021 Regional airlines of Saskatchewan Charter airlines of Canada Companies based in Saskatoon Canadian companies established in 1983 1983 establishments in Saskatchewan