Time Flys...Why Don't You?: Time Air

Despite regulation the Canadian airline scene was full of pioneering airmen who built great airlines. Among them was Walter R. "Stub" Ross whose dream of providing short haul services enabled him to build the most successful regional airline in Canada. Lethbridge Air Services became Time Air and went on to form the basis for the entire Canadian Airlines regional network.

Time Air Fokker F28 'Silver Bullet' C-FTAV Aeroclassics 1:400 Scale Model Airliner

Walter R. "Stub" Ross grew up on a cattle ranch in Southern Alberta during the 1930s and 40s but his father was already a pilot who used aircraft on the ranch and by the age of 18 (in 1949) Stub had his private pilots license. By the early 1960s he was President of both the Flying Farmers and Alberta Flying Farmer Executive but he had dreams of flying commercially. In 1963 he gained his commercial pilots license and bought out Lethbridge Air Services (LAS), an operator with a single aircraft. Stub wanted to turn LAS into a short haul airline operating initially between Lethbridge and Calgary.

Finally after much effort in 1966 the Canadian government gave him his license and he acquired a pair of 9 passenger Beech 18s with which to operate his airline service. The inaugural flight taxied out on May 16, 1966. Despite low expectations from all (including himself) he was turning a profit in only 8 months and LAS became the nation's first small airline to compete against Air Canada (who already operated the Lethbridge-Calgary service with Viscounts but only once daily). The route was only 130 miles long and took 45 minutes but by February 1968 LAS had already carried 10,000 passengers. The Calgary service was increased to 4 times daily and a new route to Red Deer opened up (which required a third Beech 18). All of this was undertaken with a staff of only 6 people - including 2 receptionists! This didn't stop excellent service however with addons like complimentary bus service into Lethbridge via a VW mini-van. The airline's slogan was "Time Flies...Why don't you".

Owner 'Stub' Ross with receptionist Kathie Burt in 1968

Wayne Bailey - Maintenance Supervisor with the courtesy 'bus' 1968

During the 1970s LAS was renamed Time Air (no doubt taking the title from its slogan) and the little airline benefitted from the withdrawal of Air Canada's competing Viscount service to Lethbridge. By 1970 the route network covered 5 destinations with Medicine Hat and Edmonton added to the other three. The Beech 18s were replaced by two DHC-6 Twin Otters (CF-QSC and CF-DKK) and by 1976 the network had added a 6th destination, Grand Prairie. In 1974 a Fairchild F-27 (C-GWRR) was added to better help Time Air compete against Pacific Western on the Calgary-Edmonton route. This aircraft was sold in late 1977 as the airline had replaced it with a new Shorts 330 (C-FTAV). Time Air was in fact the launch customer for the new boxy Shorts and built up a fleet of three (C-GTAM and GTAS).

Time Air began four engine prop-service on its trunk Calgary-Edmonton route in late 1980 when its first of two DHC-7s joined (C-GTAJ followed by C-GTAZ in September 1981). Expansion continued with the acquisition of a small fleet of 52 seat Convair 580s and 640s used for both scheduled services and charters and in 1985 a pair of new Shorts 360s. Together these replaced the smaller Shorts 330s. The Shorts 360s were used primarily on the Time Air Connector routes which linked Vancouver to 3 destinations on Vancouver Island whilst the sturdy and larger Convairs serviced northern cities such as Cold Lake, Fort McMurray, Fort Chipewyan, High Level, Rainbow Lake, Peace River and Grande Prairie. The more commercially oriented DHC-7s were used for the more competitive southern routes.

With the Canadian industry gradually opening up to competition and closer ties being sought between third level operators and the majors successful Time Air was on the way up. In 1983 Pacific Western took a 46% share in the carrier and a year later Walter Ross retired. Time Air made a C$1 million profit on a turnover of C$40 million in 1986 and in 1987 acquired both Southern Frontier Airlines (and its Beech 99s) and another long time regional Norcanair. The Norcanair purchase enabled expansion east to Manitoba and Winnipeg. Inevitably in April 1987 Time Air began to codeshare with the new Canadi>n Airlines International. This process led to the erosion of its own brand and the replacement of it with CAI Commuter colours (Pacific Western half and half colours had already been applied to some aircraft as you can see below).

By the mid 1980s Time Air had acquired a mixed fleet of Shorts 360s, DHC-7s, Convairs and Beech 99s but the future began to arrive in 1986 as the first of a new fleet of DHC-8-100s joined. Even though extra DHC-7s and another Shorts would join it was the DHC-8 which would enable a fleet renewal. Four series 100s were first followed by 6 series 300s for which the carrier was the launch customer.

The other side of the coin were jet operations using Fokker 28s, which Norcanair had been using since 1985. Two more aircraft were added to the fleet in 1988 and six further ex-USAir aircraft were picked up from 1991. To celebrate the airline’s 25th anniversary one was put into a ‘Silver Bullet’ scheme. This involved keeping the original USAir base but stripping the cheatlines and polishing the aluminium. A 25th anniversary book was also published - see left.

By 1988 Time Air was operating to 38 destinations with hubs at Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. International services with the DHC-7s and DHC-8s connected Vancouver with Seattle whilst the F28s served Minneapolis from Regina.

In 1991 Canadian took 100% control and two years later Time Air's name was lost inside the new Canadi>n Regional Airlines (though full amalgamation didn't officially take place until 1998). This airline built up the world’s largest fleet of F28s of over 30 frames and many weren't retired until Canadi>n Airlines itself had been acquired by Air Canada and the F28s were part of Air Canada Jazz. C-FTAV was one of these and was retired in August 2002.

References

Time Air. Wikipedia
Prophet, M. 1983. Winter in Edmonton. Michaelprophet.com
1987, May. Time Air buys Norcanair. Flight International.
1991. Time Air: 25 Years of People, Service and Memories - 25th Anniversary Book
2011, April. 45th Anniversary of Time Air Reunion and BBQ. AvCanada.ca