Inter-Canadien was a Canadian airline headquartered in

Dorval Dorval () is an on-island suburban city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montré ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

."World Airline Directory." ''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...

''. 25–31 March 1998
p. 75
"795 Stuart Graham Boulevard North, Dorval, H4Y1E4, Quebec, Canada"

History

Inter-Canadien traces its roots back to

Quebecair Quebecair was a Canadian airline that operated from 1947 until 1986. Quebecair was headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, now a part of Montreal. History Early years Quebecair began as Rimouski Airlines in 1947 and flew under that name un ...

, which was founded in 1949. Quebecair grew to become a second-tier regional airline, operating

British Aircraft Corporation The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 1 ...

BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter f ...

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

, and

Fokker F28 Fellowship The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokker ...

jets, as well as

Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...

, and

Hawker Siddeley HS 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorption by Hawker Siddeley. ...

turboprops and other propeller aircraft on routes throughout the province of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, and elsewhere in eastern Canada. In 1986, Quebecair was purchased by PWA Corporation (owner of

Pacific Western Airlines Pacific Western Airlines Ltd (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s. It was headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Ri ...

), the parent of

Canadian Airlines International Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (stylized as Canadi›n Airlines or Canadi‹n Airlines, or simply Canadian) was a Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada, carr ...

, and merged with the regional subsidiary of

Nordair Nordair was a Quebec-based airline in Canada founded in 1947 from the merger of Boreal Airways and Mont Laurier Aviation. History The airline operated from the 1940s to the 1980s. Initially, most of its business was international and transatla ...

, another Montreal-based airline that had also been acquired by PWA Corporation. In the late 1980s, Inter-Canadien rolled over its fleet, becoming the North American launch customer for the

Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, an ...

twin jet and the first Canadian operator of the

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...

turboprop. At the same time, Canadian Airlines International sold control of Inter-Canadien to local businessman

Michel Leblanc Michel Leblanc is a Canadian entrepreneur responsible for starting up seven airlines in 20 years, including Royal Aviation (sold to Canada 3000 in 2001 and bankrupt soon after) and Jetsgo Jetsgo Corporation was a Canadian low-cost carrier based ...

, but the airline continued to operate as a code-share partner of Canadian's. In 1990, Inter-Canadien cancelled its code-share agreement and began competing with Canadian Airlines International and

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...

on high density routes between

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

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 ancho ...

, and Halifax. This new business plan was a failure, ending with Inter-Canadien entering court protection in 1991. Canadian Airlines International then repurchased the airline, returning it to its role as Canadian's Quebec feeder airline, disposing of the Fokker 100s, and standardizing the fleet on the ATR 42. In 1996, Inter-Canadien became a wholly owned subsidiary of

Canadian Regional Airlines Canadian Regional Airlines was an airline headquartered in Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is now part of Air Canada Jazz. Former code data *IATA code: KI *ICAO code: CDR *Callsign: Canadian Regional History ...

, then the largest regional carrier in Canada and itself owned by Canadian Airlines International. In September 1998, Canadian Regional sold Inter-Canadien to

Canadian Investors Group Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

, a Toronto-based investment company owned by Robert Myhill and his partners. At the same time, Canadian Airlines International cancelled its code-share agreement with

Air Atlantic Air Atlantic was a Canadian airline, operating a fleet of BAe 146-200, BAe 4100 and Dash 8-100 aircraft. Founded and majority owned by Craig Dobbin, Air Atlantic was established in 1986 and operated Dash 7 aircraft as an interim solution unti ...

and transferred Air Atlantic's routes in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

to Inter-Canadien. It also transferred a number of Canadian Regional Airlines routes in Ontario. As a result, Inter-Canadien almost doubled in size, increasing its fleet from ten ATR 42s to 16 ATR propjets and three

twin jets operating on a route network that reached from St, John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, in the east to

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants of ...

, in the west. In July 1999, the airline announced an order for six new

Embraer ERJ-135 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

regional jets, but these jets were never operated by the airline. Inter-Canadien suspended flight operations November 27, 1999, concurrent with the collapse of its code-share partner, Canadian Airlines International (which was acquired by Air Canada). The airline entered bankruptcy in April 2000. Its hangar facilities and maintenance licences were acquired by ExelTech Aerospace.

Management

* CEO Robert Myhill (1998-1999) * Vice President, Customer Service Michel Gagné (-1999) * Director, Human Resources Alain Desgagné, CHRP (1995-1999) * Director, Flight Operations Robert Learchaft (1998-1999) * Director, Maintenance Wayne Donald (1996-1999)

Staff

* 1,100 staff (1999) * 400 pilots (1999)

Fleet

* ATR-42-300 (1988-1999) *

(1998-1999) *

(1987-1991)

Hubs and destinations

When it ceased flight operations in 1999, Inter-Canadien was flying to 28 destinations in Canada: * Ontario ** Kingston ** London ** Sault Ste Marie ** Ottawa ** Toronto Hub * Quebec ** Bagotville ** Baie Comeau ** Chibougamau ** Gaspe ** Iles de la Madeilaine ** La Grande ** Mont Joli ** Montreal Hub ** Quebec City ** Rouyn-Noranda ** Sept-Iles ** Val d'Or * Atlantic Canada ** Charlo ** Charlottetown ** Chatham ** Deer Lake ** Fredericton ** Gander ** Halifax Hub ** Moncton ** Saint John ** St John's ** Stephenville ** Sydney ** Wabush

References