Transwest Air was a scheduled and

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 ...

primarily serving the Canadian province of

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 ...

. Its headquarters and main base was at Prince Albert. Transwest was formed in 2000 by the merger of Air Sask, established as La Ronge Aviation in 1960, and Athabaska Airways. The company offered not only scheduled passenger services, but fishing charters, surveying work, forest fire fighting, and medevac operations. Transwest's equipment includes a number of bush planes and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s, and four

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

regional turboprop airliners. The company also operates La Ronge Water Aerodrome, Stony Rapids Water Aerodrome, and Southend/Hans Ulricksen Field Aerodrome. Transwest Air also has maintenance bases in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, La Ronge, and Stony Rapids. Transwest Air was bought by

West Wind Aviation West Wind Aviation Limited Partnership was a Saskatchewan based airline. Destinations Under its ExpressAir banner, West Wind formerly offered scheduled service between Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert. Service in northern Saskatchewan an ...

on June 30, 2016. In January 2021, it was announced that West Wind Aviation will be merged with Transwest Air, and would be renamed ''Rise Air''.

History

The company was founded by Floyd Glass, who learned to fly in the late 1930s, then served as a military flying training instructor during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Postwar, he was the first general manager of the provincial Crown corporation Saskatchewan Government Airways. He resigned from this post, flew briefly with

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

's Queen Charlotte Airways, then returned to Saskatchewan and in 1955 formed his own firm, Athabaska Airways, which still exists under the name "Transwest Air". Glass died in 1999. In June 2016,

put forward a letter of intent to purchase Transwest Air. The company became a subsidiary of West Wind Aviation on July 1, 2016. In January 2021, it was announced West Wind Aviation would be merged with Transwest Air and be renamed ''Rise Air''.

Passenger services

Transwest Air offers scheduled flights to and from:Transwest Air Route Map
/ref> *

** Fond du Lac Dene Nation ( Fond-du-Lac Airport) **

La Ronge La Ronge is a northern town in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan, Canada. Its location is approximately north of Prince Albert where Highway 2 becomes Highway 102. La Ronge lies on the western shore of Lac la Ronge, is adjacent ...

( La Ronge (Barber Field) Airport) **

Points North Landing Points North Landing is a camp settlement in northeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is 355 kilometres north-east of La Ronge, on Highway 905 and has an airport and a water aerodrome, with almost daily flights provided by West Wind Aviation and ...

(

Points North Landing Airport Points North Landing Airport is a regional airport adjacent to Points North Landing in Saskatchewan, Canada. See also * List of airports in Saskatchewan * Points North Landing Water Aerodrome Points North Landing Water Aerodrome i ...

) ** Prince Albert ( Prince Albert (Glass Field) Airport) **

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 ...

( Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport) ** Stony Rapids ( Stony Rapids Airport) **

Uranium City Uranium City is a northern settlement in Saskatchewan, Canada. Located on the northern shores of Lake Athabasca near the border of the Northwest Territories, it is above sea level. The settlement is northwest of Prince Albert, northeast of ...

( Uranium City Airport) **

Wollaston Lake Wollaston Lake is a lake in north-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is northeast of Prince Albert. With a surface area of (excluding islands; if islands are included), it is the largest bifurcation lake in the world – that is, a lake th ...

(

Wollaston Lake Airport Wollaston Lake Airport is located adjacent to Wollaston Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada on the Hatchet Lake Dene Nation. The airport consists of one runway (17/35) and a single apron. Transwest Air maintained a terminal, a fuel tank and a han ...

)

Fleet

As of August 2019 Transwest Air listed 31 aircraftTranswest Air Fleet
/ref> and had 39 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 ...

also shows a Bell 206B, a

de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and h ...

, and a Twin Otter Series 100 all with canceled certificates of registration. There is also a Piper PA-31 Navajo listed with a temporary canceled certificate. Transwest used to operate

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...

BAe Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin- turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...

twin turboprop aircraft, the Beechcraft Model 99, the

Beechcraft Baron The Beechcraft Baron is a light twin-engined piston aircraft designed and produced by Beechcraft. The aircraft was introduced in 1961. A low-wing monoplane developed from the Travel Air, it remains in production. Design and development The d ...

, Beechcraft Travel Air,

Cessna 441 Conquest II The Cessna 441 Conquest II is the first turboprop powered aircraft designed by Cessna, and was meant to fill the gap between their jets and piston-engined aircraft. It was developed in November 1974, with the first aircraft delivered in Septe ...

and the

Mitsubishi MU-2 The Mitsubishi MU-2 is a Japanese high-wing, twin-engine turboprop aircraft with a pressurized cabin manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It made its maiden flight in September 1963 and was produced until 1986. It is one of postwar Japa ...

.Transwest Air Historical gleet
/ref>

References

External links

Company site
{{Defunct airlines of Canada Defunct airlines of Canada Airlines established in 2000 Airlines disestablished in 2021 Air Transport Association of Canada Companies based in Saskatchewan Companies established in 2000 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Regional airlines of Saskatchewan Canadian companies established in 2000 2000 establishments in Saskatchewan Seaplane operators 2000 establishments in Canada Air Canada