Quebecair

Quebecair airline codes|QBA|QB|Quebecair was a Canadian airline that operated from 1947 until 1986.

Company History

Quebecair began as Rimouski Airlines in 1947 and flew under that name until it merged with Gulf Aviation in 1953 under the name Quebec-Air. The aircraft in operation at the time were the Beech 18, the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver and the Douglas DC-3. Operations were mainly based in Quebec and Montreal was added in 1957 and eventually this last city became the operating base for Quebecair.

In 1958 a fire in a hangar destroyed three DC-3s and Fokker F27 "Friendship" were bought to replace the destroyed aircraft. Those proved to be very successful and as operations increased a new, larger aircraft was introduced in the form of the Convair CV-540 and those were put on the main route between Montreal and Quebec.During the 1960s various other airlines were taken over, namely Matane Air Service and Northern Wings in 1965, Fecteau Air Service in 1968 and Royale Air in 1969. The increase in operations brought the introduction of the first jet aircraft, the BAC 1-11 and those were put into use on the Montreal - Toronto route. In 1974 two Boeing 707s were brought in for charter work and also Boeing 727 aircraft. Charter operations were conducted to destinations in Florida, the Caribbean, Europe and Hawaii. Charter flights were discontinued in 1979 and the 707s were sold off.

By 1981 the financial conditions in Quebecair were difficult and all aircraft models except for the F27s and BAC 1-11s were disposed off. This was a difficult time for Quebecair and it was not until 1983 that the Boeing 737-200 was introduced. In 1984 Quebecair leased a couple of Douglas DC-8-63s for charter flights but those did not last very long. The next year, 1985, was a very difficult for Quebecair and the financial situation forced the Quebec government (which had owned the airline for a few years) to sell the company to CP Air in July 1986. [Airlines Remembered by BI Hengi, Publisher Midland Publishing]

Cities Served

The 1980 route map shows the following destinations being served:

*Montreal
*Quebec City
*Toronto
*Schefferville, Quebec
*Wabush, Newfoundland and Labrador
*Sept-Îles, Quebec
*Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec
*Baje-Johan-Beetz, Quebec
*Natashquan, Quebec
*Kegaska, Quebec
*Chevery Airport
*Harrington Harbour, Quebec
*Tête-à-La-Baleine Airport
*Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Quebec
*Blanc-Sablon, Quebec
*Port-Menier, Quebec
*Magdalen Islands
*Bonaventure, Quebec
*Gaspé, Quebec
*Rimouski, Quebec
*Baie-Comeau, Quebec
*Saguenay, Quebec
*Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
*Val-d'Or, Quebec

And in the United States:

*Boston
*New York

Fleet

*Beech 18
*de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
*Douglas DC-3
*Fokker F27 "Friendship"
*Convair CV-540
*BAC 1-11
*Fokker F28 "Fellowship"
*Hawker Siddeley HS 748
*Boeing 707-123
*Boeing 727-025
*Boeing 737-200
*Douglas DC-8-63

Accidents and incidents

*On March 29, 1979, Quebecair Flight 255, a Fairchild F-27 (tail number: CF-QBL) flying from Quebec to Montreal crashed after an engine exploded shortly after take off, killing all three crew and 17 out of 21 passengers. [ [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19790329-0 ASN Aircraft accident Fairchild F-27 CF-QBL Quebec, QC ] ]

External links

* [http://rzjets.net/operators/operator.php?opid=1044/ Fleet and code data]
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40B17FF3F5D1A7B93CBA81783D85F4D8685F9/ Quebecair New York Times article]
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0006605/ Quebecair short history]
* [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?airlinesearch=Quebecair&distinct_entry=true/ Airliners.net photos]
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/operator/airline.php?var=5545/ Accidents and incidents]

References