Baseball Cap
Object
2024.5.6
Blue baseball cap with "Air North Yukon's Airline" written in orange across the front
Alongside Air Canada and Westjet, Air North provides Whitehorse, and The Yukon as a whole, with connections to larger urban-centres across Canada, most notably Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, and Edmonton. Unlike the others though, Air North is The Yukon’s airline, based in Whitehorse, started there, and 49%-owned by the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation specifically. Yukon North of Ordinary is the airline’s official in-flight magazine, and the company proudly offers Yukon-sourced products where possible, including alcoholic beverages from Yukon Brewing and coffee from Midnight Sun. This present follows a slow, steady rise, beginning in 1977 with charter flights, moving onto regular passenger services during the 1980s flying DC-3s and Cessnas, among other craft. During the 1990s, the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nations Government opted to start investing in Air North, deeming the decision practical given that their largest settlement, Old Crow, was (and still is) disconnected from the rest of the territory by road, rail, or water. Aircraft are the only engine-driven method of reaching the town, so supporting and funding the region’s largest airline gave them decision-making power in the routes connecting their citizens to the rest of the country. Reflecting their crucial involvement and support, the Vuntut Gwitchin crest is featured on current planes belonging to Air North. As the new millenia dawned, the airline purchased jet-aircraft in 2002, allowing them to run longer routes to Vancouver with the Boeing-737. Since then, growth has been continual, launching the magazine, arranging the supply-contracts, and winning the hearts of Yukoners looking to travel within, to, and from the territory. When departing the Yukon Transportation Museum, visitors should scope the airport for planes bearing orange tailfins - those belong to Air North!