In 1967 the airline
took a loan from
the Industrial
Development Bank
to fund a Boeing 707
with two spare JT3D
turbofan engines.
Registered CF-FAN,
Wardair’s first big
jet arrived the
following year.handling all of Air Canada’s charter work; but Air Canada was
unwilling. Fortunately the new legislation merely did away
with complicated ‘affinity charters’ and replaced them with an
‘advanced booking charter’, better known as ABC flights.
As a result, Wardair started to grow and an increasing
number of people realised that the company was there to
stay; for now, anyway.
Jumbo Deal
Having given sterling service, with countless trips across the
Atlantic, CF-FUN was sold to Cruziero of Brazil in 1973 at a
modest profit.
A surprise came that same year when Wardair acquired a
Boeing 747 with a large quantity of spares and ground support
equipment. Registered CF-DJC and named Phil Garrett, this
747 (originally ordered by Universal Airlines and previously
delivered to Braniff International) was the first to be ordered by
a Canadian airline. A second 747 was added in December of
the following year; it took on the 727’s old CF-FUN registration
and was named after the ATB’s Romeo Vachon.
By 1977 the average utilisation for all aircraft was 11.6 hours
a day. Expansion was paramount this year, with the opening a
new hangar to house the 747 at Edmonton International (YEG).
Two further 747-200s and two DC-10-30s were also ordered at
a cost of $413 million.Debutante
Yet again, Wardair was the first to introduce another new type –
a DHC-7 that was handed over at a ceremony on May 23, 1978
at the de Havilland plant in Downsview. Less than a month later
saw the arrival of its first 747-200 (C-GXRA), again named after
a famous bush pilot, in this case Herbert Hollick-Kenyon.In 1966 Wardair
leased Boeing 727-
CF-FUN. In doing
so it became the f irst
Canadian airline to
operate a Boeing jet. In
service it was named
‘Cy Becker’ after a
famous bush pilot and
Great War f ighter ace.In December 1978
Wardair briefly
operated a pair of
aircraft with the WR
‘Hop’ May name.
Douglas DC-
C-GXRC, seen here
on a pre-delivery test
f light in August 1978,
was delivered early,
and the outgoing
707 (C-FZYP) that
carried the same name
had yet to retire.
In 1988 A
C-GKWD would
become the third
aircraft to honour
pioneer ‘Wop’ May.10 AIRLINER Classics 2018