Q9 - Fleet size See Fleet below Founded 2001 | Commenced operations 2001 Ceased operations October 24, 2006 | |
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QuikAir (QuikAir Airline Service) was a small Canadian regional airline based in Calgary, Alberta, serving business travellers. QuikAir ceased its operations on October 24, 2006.
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From its launch in 2001 until the start of 2006, QuikAir had operated more than 25,000 flights between Calgary and Edmonton; QuikAir was operating a dedicated fleet of four aircraft on the Calgary-Edmonton corridor, providing 24 daily flights between the two cities. It also operated flights to Fort McMurray and Penticton, British Columbia. Until 2004, it also operated in Quebec and Ontario. Private charters were also available.
Fleet
As of August 2006, the QuikAir fleet included:
Failure
The demise of QuikAir was caused by several different factors:
The scheduled service into Edmonton was restricted to the International Airport only, under the Access Agreement which prevented scheduled flights from serving the City Center Airport. The International Airport, being located in Leduc and not actually Edmonton (18 km from Edmonton, 36 km from Edmonton's downtown), forced many regular business travellers to find other transportation into the downtown core.
The proposed scheduled service into Penticton was met with resistance by means of a Transport Canada representative. Unsatisfied with the Jetstream's single engine performance, it was decided that, in the event of an engine failure, the aircraft could not make it safely back out of the valley in which Penticton lies. Multiple revisions of approach procedures occurred, each which had to be reviewed and approved.
As the Penticton route debuted with much fanfare, many flights were pre-sold to customers. Not wanting to lose their customer base, QuikAir chartered several different airlines to carry their passengers for the scheduled flights while the approach procedures were being worked out. Often there were communication problems between QuikAir, these contracted airlines, and the passengers, which led to customer dissatisfaction.
QuikAir ceased operations as of October 24, 2006, leaving many passengers making new arrangements and fighting for their refunds, and several employees without their last weeks of wages. Bankruptcy was declared November 16, 2007.
The Calgary-Edmonton corridor routes were picked up by Peace Air, which also ran scheduled flights to Fort McMurray. (Peace Air has since ceased operations as of May 18, 2007.)