Morningstar Air Express Inc. is a

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of air cargo, cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline ...

based in

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 ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. It operates a contract all-cargo service from Halifax to

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 ...

for

FedEx Express FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2020, it is one of the world's largest airlines in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the na ...

within Canada, as well as all-cargo charter services. Its main base is

Edmonton International Airport Edmonton International Airport, as of August 29, 2022, officially branded YEG Edmonton International Airport is the primary air passenger and air cargo facility in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of the Canadian province of Alberta. Designat ...

History

The airline was founded in Edmonton in 1970 as Brooker-Wheaton Aviation Ltd. In January, 1992 the company became Morningstar Air Express. It is owned by Donald Wheaton (37.5%), Kim Ward (37.5%), and Bill McGoey (25%). It was founded in Edmonton in 1970 by two Edmonton businessmen, Don Wheaton, Sr. and Bev Brooker. The company enjoyed rapid growth due to the "oil boom" economy of Alberta during the 1970s. During this period, the company expanded into a Cessna sales, service and parts centre, a fuel dealership and a full service

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, ...

(FBO) centre. Company flying activities initially involved cabin class piston and turboprop twins. In the late 1970s, the company added a Learjet 36 and a

Hawker Siddeley HS.125 The British Aerospace 125 is a twinjet mid-size business jet. Originally developed by de Havilland and initially designated as the DH.125 Jet Dragon, it entered production as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125, which was the designation used until 1 ...

to its fleet. In the early 1980s, the company divested of its piston fleet, continued to expand its turboprop and corporate jet fleet and went into aircraft leasing business. Also, during this period, Don Wheaton, Sr. became the sole shareholder of Brooker Wheaton Aviation Ltd. During the mid-1980s, the company began flying for various courier companies. Brooker Aviation Ltd. expanded in this market in subsequent years with the addition of Fairchild Metroliners and Cessna 208 Caravans. In July 1990, the company acquired a contract to initially operate two

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

s nationwide for FedEx Express Canada. November 1991 saw the addition of the

Fokker F-27 The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

aircraft for the FedEx Express Canada contract. Brooker Wheaton Aviation's expertise grew substantially in the early 1990s when the Max Ward family purchased half of the company after selling

Wardair Wardair Canada was a privately run Canadian airline, founded by Max Ward in 1952 under the name Wardair Ltd, before formally changing its name to "Wardair Canada" in 1976. The airline was acquired by and folded into Canadian Airlines in 1989. ...

. At that time the name was changed to Morningstar Express when Don Wheaton Jr. and Kim Ward joined forces. In January 2013, Bill McGoey (President) purchased 25% of the company. The company has expanded to 22 all-cargo aircraft flying coast-to-coast in scheduled daily cargo service.

Destinations

Morningstar Air Express Inc. operates a contract all-cargo service for FedEx Express between the following cities: Victoria, Vancouver, Nanaimo, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Moncton, and Halifax.

Fleet

As of November 2022, Morningstar Air Express has the following 22 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 ...

. However, according to the company they have 17 aircraft. All aircraft are leased and operating for

Accidents and incidents

*On October 6, 2005, a Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster (C-FEXS) crashed shortly after takeoff from

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, ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

on a freight operations flight. The aircraft experienced

icing conditions In aviation, icing conditions are atmospheric conditions that can lead to the formation of water ice on an aircraft. Ice accretion and accumulation can affect the external surfaces of an aircraft – in which case it is referred to as ''airframe ...

and was loaded beyond the weight category maximum for flight in icing conditions. The pilot lost control of the aircraft, which crashed on railroad tracks in Winnipeg. The pilot, who was the only occupant, was killed in the crash. *On September 25, 2013, a Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster crashed in Hudson Bay about north of

Fort Severn, Ontario Fort Severn First Nation ( [] in Swampy Cree language, Cree) is a Western Swampy Cree First Nations in Canada, First Nation band government located on Hudson Bay and is the most Extreme communities of Canada, northern community in Ontario, Canad ...

while operating a training flight from Sault Ste. Marie Airport in Ontario near the Canada–United States border. Part of the aircraft's underbelly cargo pod was recovered from the sea but the pilot, who was the only occupant, was never found.

References

External links

Morningstar Air Express
{{Airlines of Canada Cargo airlines of Canada Air Transport Association of Canada Airlines established in 1970 Regional airlines of Alberta