Air Georgian Limited was a privately owned

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

based at

Toronto Pearson International Airport Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surr ...

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Between 2000 and 2020 its main business was its operation as

Air Canada Express Air Canada Express is a brand name of regional feeder flights for Air Canada that are subcontracted to other airlines. As of March 2021, Jazz Aviation is the sole operator of Air Canada Express. They primarily connect smaller cities with Air Cana ...

on a Tier III

codeshare A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

with

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 an ...

for scheduled services on domestic and trans-border routes. Starting in 2020 Air Georgian began focusing on air charters, before ceasing operations in May, after a sale of its assets to Pivot Airlines, a company run by the same executives. Air Georgian operated under the Subparts 704 and 705 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CAR 704, CAR 705) and had completed the

IATA Operational Safety Audit The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) programme is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses internationally recognised quality audit ...

. Air Georgian pilots were represented by the

Air Line Pilots Association The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 59,000 pilots from 35 U.S. and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadi ...

(ALPA).

History

Air Georgian began as an airport developer in 1985. It began commercial operations in 1994 and subsequently developed its commercial air carrier business, which as of 2011 represented 87 percent of its total business. In 1997 It became a code share partner of Canadian Airlines, operating under the banner of Ontario Regional. Air Georgian was a partner of Canadian Airlines. In 2000 Air Georgian became a Tier III partner of Air Canada and operated as Air Canada Alliance. It had a long time cargo operation known as Georgian Express which was sold to

Cargojet Cargojet Inc. () is a scheduled cargo airline based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It operates cargo services in Canada and internationally, as well as full aircraft charters. Its main base is John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport. Car ...

in 2007. On November 15, 2013, Air Georgian and Regional 1 completed a joint venture through the creation of a parent company, Regional Express Aviation Ltd. (REAL), based in Calgary, Alberta. Air Georgian and R1 both benefit from having access to the world's largest private fleet of

Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

and CRJ aircraft, over CAD$100 million in spare parts and domestic maintenance bases located throughout Canada. The joint venture with R1 ended in February 2016. In December 2013, Air Canada announced that commencing in mid-2014, Air Georgian would operate additional routes in Canada and the United States using Air Canada CRJ-100/200 aircraft. In 2019, Air Canada indicated it was ending its relationship with the company, consolidating its CRJ regional capacity into the Jazz Aviation operation. On January 31, 2020, Air Georgian filed notice of intent for bankruptcy protection. On March 16, 2020, Air Georgian received court approval for an asset purchase agreement with Pivot Airlines (2746904 Ontario Inc) for substantially all the assets, properties and undertakings of the company. Pivot Airlines is a new company whose CEO as well as Maintenance Operations and Flight Operations Vice Presidents are the same as Air Georgian's. On May 29, 2020, the transaction was completed, however, the June 1 deadline to make a proposal to exit bankruptcy protection passed and no proposal having been made, the company was declared bankrupt the following day. In the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Air Georgian had begun offering repatriation flights.

Fleet

At the time of bankruptcy, the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register showed 14 aircraft registered for Air Georgian Limited. As of August 2021,

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 ...

shows that Air Georgian had operated the following 89 aircraft: Air Georgian ceased operations of Toronto-based

Beechcraft 1900D The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...

aircraft on October 31, 2018, and out of Calgary in on April 30, 2019. Air Georgian ceased operations as an Air Canada Express operator on January 31, 2020.

References

External links

Air Georgian
{{Defunct airlines of Canada Defunct airlines of Canada Airlines established in 1994 Airlines disestablished in 2020 Air Canada Air Transport Association of Canada Companies based in Mississauga Regional airlines of Ontario 1994 establishments in Ontario 2020 disestablishments in Ontario