Timetable
Object
2025.13.7
Folded page containing fares and schedules for “Air North”
Air North was founded on February 1, 1977 by Joseph Sparling and Tom Wood. The company initially operated a charter service, primarily in support of the mining industry. Air North commenced operations with a single Cessna 206, C-GLIZ, and over the next decade operated on wheels, floats, and skis with many aircraft types including Cessna 150, 172, 185, 206 and 337s; de Havilland Beavers, Otters, and Caribou; a Britten Norman Islander; Beech 18 and 80s, a Fairchild Husky, and Douglas DC-3s and DC-4s. Scheduled services within the Yukon and between the Yukon and Alaska were started in the mid 1980s and in 1996 the company began to replace its piston-powered fleet with turboprops.
"The beginning of the end" for the DC-3 fleet was September 23, 1996. That was the day that the first of two newly-acquired Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprops (C-FYDU and C-FYDY) flew Air North's Whitehorse - Dawson City - Old Crow route for the first time. An article in the Yukon News on October 9th described the many advantages of the Hawkers over the DC-3s - flying speed and altitudes as well as comfort, and from a pilot's perspective, the HS 748 is a great plane to fly.
When the Hawkers went into service, Joe Sparling said that Air North would probably sell 3 of their 4 DC-3s, keeping one for "work that is best done with a DC-3" - mainly flights to rough mining strips. On May 6, 1998, though, a large photo on the front page of the Whitehorse Star led to a Page 2 headline that reported: "Last DC-3 soars off into history". In that article, Joe Sparling looked back to Air North's purchase of their first two DC-3s in 1979, and noted a couple of their more significant contracts with those aircraft, flying equipment into the Windy Craggy copper mine in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and flying smoke-jumpers to forest fires for many years.
Sparling said that the first of the DC-3s was sold in the Fall of 1997, and 2 more in April 1998, at prices around $150,000 each. "The first aircraft went to a Colorado group who bought it as a toy. They're going to use it to travel to airshows and haul their motorcycles around." The second went to service a courier contract between El Paso, Texas, and Mexico, and the third was bought by a group of historic-aircraft enthusiasts from Washington State.
In February 2001, Air North reported that they were looking at starting jet service to Alberta and/or British Columbia, and on June 1, 2002, they began scheduled service between the Yukon and Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver with two Boeing 737-200 jets they had purchased (C-FJLB and C-GNAU). Air North's fleet has since then grown and modernized with newer series Boeing 737 aircraft as well as more Hawker Siddeley 748 turboprops. A complete list of the company's aircraft, and photos of their 3 main aircraft paint schemes, can be seen at "Air North Aircraft - Registry History".
"The beginning of the end" for the DC-3 fleet was September 23, 1996. That was the day that the first of two newly-acquired Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprops (C-FYDU and C-FYDY) flew Air North's Whitehorse - Dawson City - Old Crow route for the first time. An article in the Yukon News on October 9th described the many advantages of the Hawkers over the DC-3s - flying speed and altitudes as well as comfort, and from a pilot's perspective, the HS 748 is a great plane to fly.
When the Hawkers went into service, Joe Sparling said that Air North would probably sell 3 of their 4 DC-3s, keeping one for "work that is best done with a DC-3" - mainly flights to rough mining strips. On May 6, 1998, though, a large photo on the front page of the Whitehorse Star led to a Page 2 headline that reported: "Last DC-3 soars off into history". In that article, Joe Sparling looked back to Air North's purchase of their first two DC-3s in 1979, and noted a couple of their more significant contracts with those aircraft, flying equipment into the Windy Craggy copper mine in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and flying smoke-jumpers to forest fires for many years.
Sparling said that the first of the DC-3s was sold in the Fall of 1997, and 2 more in April 1998, at prices around $150,000 each. "The first aircraft went to a Colorado group who bought it as a toy. They're going to use it to travel to airshows and haul their motorcycles around." The second went to service a courier contract between El Paso, Texas, and Mexico, and the third was bought by a group of historic-aircraft enthusiasts from Washington State.
In February 2001, Air North reported that they were looking at starting jet service to Alberta and/or British Columbia, and on June 1, 2002, they began scheduled service between the Yukon and Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver with two Boeing 737-200 jets they had purchased (C-FJLB and C-GNAU). Air North's fleet has since then grown and modernized with newer series Boeing 737 aircraft as well as more Hawker Siddeley 748 turboprops. A complete list of the company's aircraft, and photos of their 3 main aircraft paint schemes, can be seen at "Air North Aircraft - Registry History".