New Flyer is a Canadian multinational
bus manufacturer, specializing in the production of
transit bus
A transit bus (also big bus, commuter bus, city bus, town bus, urban bus, stage bus, public bus, public transit bus, or simply bus) is a type of bus used in public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-floo ...
es. New Flyer is owned by the
NFI Group
NFI Group Inc. is a Canadian multinational Bus manufacturing, bus manufacturer, based in Winnipeg, Canada. The company employs 8,500 people across 50 facilities in nine countries. NFI Group owns Alexander Dennis, ARBOC Specialty Vehicles, Motor ...
, a holding company for several bus manufacturers. New Flyer has several manufacturing facilities in Canada and the United States that produce the company's main product, the
New Flyer Xcelsior family of buses.
This company was formed in 1930 as Western Auto and Truck Body Works Ltd. as a company that primarily sold buses in Western Canada before changing its name to Western Flyer Coach in 1948. Western Flyer Coach was taken over by the
Government of Manitoba
The powers and structure of the provincial Government of Manitoba () are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867.
In modern Canadian use, the term "government" refers broadly to the cabinet of the day (formally the Executive Council of Manitoba, ...
in 1971, becoming Flyer Industries Limited and was acquired by
Dutch-based manufacturer
Den Oudsten in 1986, renaming Flyer to New Flyer Industries Limited.
KPS Capital acquired New Flyer in 2002, resulting the manufacturer going public in 2005, becoming New Flyer Industries Canada ULC.
New Flyer operates multiple production plants in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
, Manitoba; which is its main Canadian plant, while it runs three additional American bus production plants under its New Flyer of America subsidiary in
Crookston and
St. Cloud, Minnesota for customers in the northern United States, and
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...
, which was the former production facility of
North American Bus Industries, that New Flyer acquired in 2013 and since 2015 for customers serving the southern part of the country.
History
New Flyer was founded by John Coval in 1930 as the Western Auto and Truck Body Works Ltd in Manitoba. The company began producing buses in 1937, selling their first full buses to Grey Goose Bus Lines in 1937, before releasing their Western Flyer bus model in 1941, prompting the company to change its name to Western Flyer Coach in 1948.
In the 1960s, the company further focused on the
urban transit bus market. In 1971, the then-financially struggling Western Flyer was sold to the Manitoba Development Corporation, an agency of the government of
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
, and renamed Flyer Industries Limited.
[Stauss, Ed (1988). ''The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses''. Woodland Hills, CA (USA): Stauss Publications. .] In 1974 the opposition
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba (PC; ) is a centre-right political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is currently the opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, following a defeat in the 2023 provincial election.
Hist ...
had urged the
NDP government in power to divest Flyer Industries from government ownership.
On July 15, 1986, Jan den Oudsten, a descendant of the family who formed Dutch bus manufacturer
Den Oudsten Bussen BV, purchased Flyer Industries from the Manitoba government, changing its name to New Flyer Industries Limited.
New Flyer designed and tested North America's first
low-floor bus
A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between the ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a l ...
in 1988 and delivered the first production model, called the D40LF, to the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...
in 1991. In 1994, New Flyer delivered the first
compressed natural gas
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...
bus in North America and the world's first
hydrogen fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
powered bus. In 1995, the company delivered the first low-floor
articulated bus
An articulated bus, also referred to as a slinky bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, is an articulated vehicle, typically a motor bus or trolleybus, used in public transportation. It is usually a ...
in North America to
Strathcona County Transit
Strathcona County Transit provides local, commuter, and school bus services to the community of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, which is east of Edmonton in Strathcona County. Transportation for elderly citizens and people with disabilities is pr ...
.
In March 2002, New Flyer was acquired by
KPS Capital Partners
KPS Capital Partners is an American investment company that manages KPS Special Situation Funds, a family of investment funds. KPS specifically invests out of two funds raised in October 2019: KPS Special Situations Fund V ($6.12 billion) and KPS ...
, an investment company that specializes in turning around struggling businesses, for $44 million. Later that year Jan den Oudsten retired as CEO. He was later inducted into the
American Public Transportation Association
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit group of approximately 1,500 public and private sector member organizations that promotes and advocates for the interests of the public transportation industry in the United ...
's Hall of Fame for his work at the company.
In 2003,
King County Metro
King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...
in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
placed an order for 213 hybrid buses, the world's first large order for hybrid buses.
On December 15, 2003, New Flyer was purchased by
private equity
Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
firms
Harvest Partners
Harvest Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in middle market industrial, business services, consumer and retail companies.
The firm, which was founded in 1981 by Harvey Mallement and Ha ...
and
Lightyear Capital. The company's CEO, John Marinucci, called the purchase an indicator that the company's operational and financial turnaround had been accomplished.
On August 19, 2005, New Flyer became a
publicly traded company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...
on the
Toronto Stock Exchange
The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; ) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the List of stock exchanges, 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in th ...
, renaming the company to New Flyer Industries Canada ULC and creating the publicly traded parent company
NFI Group Inc. 2005 also saw a restyling of New Flyer's popular low-floor coaches with new front and rear endcaps, to modernize and streamline the exterior appearance of the bus.
In June 2012 New Flyer, in a joint venture with
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...
, the
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
Government,
Manitoba Hydro
The Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board (), operating as Manitoba Hydro, is the electric power and natural gas public utility, utility in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1961, it is a provincial Crown Corporation, governed by the Manitoba ...
and
Red River College, unveiled a
fully electric battery-powered bus.
In May 2012, New Flyer and
Alexander Dennis
Alexander Dennis is a British bus manufacturing company based in Larbert, Scotland. The largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom, with a 50% market share in 2019, it has manufacturing plants and partnerships in Canada, China, ...
announced a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
to design and manufacture medium-duty low-floor bus (or midi bus) for the North American market. The bus, called the New Flyer MiDi, was based on the design of the
Alexander Dennis Enviro200
The Alexander Dennis Enviro200 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro200) is a midibus that was manufactured by TransBus International and later Alexander Dennis between 2003 and 2018. The original TransBus Enviro200 design was innovative but ...
. Alexander Dennis engineered and tested the bus, and it was built and marketed by New Flyer under contract. During the partnership around 200 buses were delivered to 22 operators in Canada and the U.S. In May 2017, New Flyer and Alexander Dennis announced their joint venture would end and production of the bus would transition to Alexander Dennis' new North American factory in Indiana, where it is produced alongside the double-deck
Enviro500 series bus. Alexander Dennis was later purchased by New Flyer's parent company, NFI Group, in 2019.
Facilities

New Flyer's corporate headquarters are located in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
. Manufacturing facilities are located in Winnipeg;
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...
;
Crookston, Minnesota
Crookston is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Polk County. The population was 7,482 at the 2020 census. It is part of the " Grand Forks, ND- MN Metropolitan Statistical Area" or "Greater Grand Forks".
Crookst ...
;
Jamestown, New York
Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...
; and
St. Cloud, Minnesota. The company also operates a network of service centers and parts distribution facilities.
Models
References
External links
Official website
{{Automotive industry in the United States
Bus manufacturers of Canada
Canadian brands
Canadian companies established in 1930
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1930
Hybrid electric bus manufacturers
Manufacturing companies based in Winnipeg
Natural gas vehicles
Trolleybus manufacturers
1930 establishments in Manitoba