 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1934 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 1935 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 1981 | ||||||
| Operating bases | The Pas, Churchill, Thompson | ||||||
| Hubs | Gillam, Norway House, Wabowden, Rankin Inlet | ||||||
| Destinations | Canada, Greenland, United States | ||||||
| Headquarters | The Pas, Manitoba | ||||||
| Key people | Tom Lamb (founder) | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Lamb Air Ltd. was a Canadian airline that began operations in 1934 in The Pas, Manitoba, and went out of business in 1981.
Tom Lamb was the son of Thomas Henry Peacock (THP) Lamb, who had emigrated from England in the late 19th century. THP Lamb turned from school teacher to fur trader and in 1900, started Lamb's Store in Moose Lake, Manitoba. Tom and his brothers and sisters grew up in northern Manitoba and worked for their father.
Tom Lamb left school before finishing grade 3. Later in life, he would make the comment, while giving his acceptance speech when receiving his honorary Doctorate of law from the University of Manitoba, "If I had only gotten to grade 4". At the age of 10, Tom, who had his own team of horses and sleigh, was competing with grown men in the fish hauling business. He would have to use fish boxes to step up on to be able to load his sleigh.
One of the Lamb family's businesses was "logistics and transportation". Fish, lumber, trees, fur and supplies needed to be hauled by any and all means. Dog teams, horses, boats, trucks and tractors were used. In the 1930s there was a transportation revolution happening. The aircraft was making its way into northern Canada. The first time Tom Lamb saw an aircraft he realized its potential. In 1930, Tom bought his first aircraft – a Stinson SR8. In 1930, Tom Lamb travelled to Winnipeg to learn to fly. To keep costs to a minimum, he lived in a tent behind the Winnipeg Flying Club. When he returned to The Pas and checked himself out on the Stinson.
In 1935, Tom incorporated Lamb Airways Limited. The airline had some name changes throughout the years and Tom became one of the best known Manitobans, if not Canadians, in the world. His adventures have been documented in books, a television documentary and even a song.
Lambair grew by public demand, as there was no other means of transportation for fish to market at the time except horse-drawn sleighs. Airplanes shortened the time to market and ensured higher quality fish to the large North American market. While transportation of fish, fur, trappers and fisherman were its primary business, the largest expansion of Lambair was during the construction of the Mid-Canada Line during the 1950s. The airline served all of Canada and parts of the United States and Greenland during its years in service. Lambair continued to haul fish, but its primary cargo was people - Inuit families from Resolute, Northwest territories to the far Arctic island hunting camps; equipment - oil drilling rigs to Sable Island from Halifax and food supplies. Medical evacuations and emergency mercy flights also accounted for a substantial amount of the company's traffic from the far north.
As development in the north progressed, Lambair opened new bases and served Wabowden, Thompson, Churchill, Norway House and Gillam as well as The Pas. These bases were established to serve all of northern Manitoba and the North West Territories (and current day Nunavut). It carried out its own maintenance operations in its hangars at Churchill, Thompson and The Pas and in 1965 built a new headquarters at The Pas.
Lambair was Canada's oldest airline still under the original ownership. Upon the death of Tom Lamb in 1969, the founder's six sons, all pilot-engineers, (in order of age, Greg, Donald, Dennis, Jack, Doug and Connie) managed the airline. By 1979, Lambair had a fleet which included Bristol Freighters, Curtis Commandos C-46s, Fairchild F-27, Twin Otters, Otters, Beavers, Cessna 180s, Bell G4A helicopters, BN Islanders, Aztecs and DC-3s. The planes were purchased from all over the world including Norway, England and Afghanistan. This fleet offered the greatest variety of aircraft to look after the traffic of the north, according to Donald Lamb, President of Lambair, in 1973. The combination of heavy freight aircraft with short takeoff and landing aircraft, to the fast light instrument flight rules (IFR) twin engine planes allowed the company to take on assignments for governments, oil companies, mining operations and continue to haul passengers throughout the north. The helicopters were for prospecting, hydro-electric development and forestry operations.
The airline served all of Canada and parts of the United States and Greenland, supporting the isolated communities of northern Canada. [1] Their motto was "Don't ask us where we fly, tell us where you want to go". [2]
In 1965, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) produced a television show called "The Flying Lambs". It was shown on the series called Telescope.
On May 22, 1969, Tom Lamb received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Manitoba. He had had less than three years of elementary schooling. [3]
Jack Lamb has recorded his story in a book "My Life in the North". [4]
The four surviving Lamb brothers were recognized for their contributions to the development of northern Canada and received awards for their service from the Government of Nunavut at a banquet on 14 April 2007 in Rankin Inlet. [1]
On July 11, 2008, Tom Lamb was named the #2 Greatest Manitoban by a vote of readers of The Winnipeg Free Press. [5]
On 30 May 2009, Thomas Lamb was inducted posthumously into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. The award was accepted by Tom's son Greg at the ceremony in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.
Lamb Air operated many aircraft.
Helicopters:
Wardair Canada was a privately run Canadian airline, founded by Max Ward in 1952 under the name Wardair Ltd, before formally changing its name to "Wardair Canada" in 1976. The airline was acquired by and merged into Canadian Airlines in 1989.
Pacific Western Airlines Ltd (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s.
The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking Air purchased the type certificate and restarted production in 2008, before re-adopting the DHC name in 2022. In 2023 DHC restarted production of the 300 series, in addition to the Series 400 produced by Viking.
The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, propeller-driven, short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, including as a bush plane, but is overall a larger aircraft.
Eastern Provincial Airways (EPA) was an airline that operated in Atlantic and eastern Canada. At its peak, the carrier operated jet service with Boeing 737-200 aircraft connecting many communities that in the first quarter of the 21st century only have scheduled passenger flights provided by 18-seat commuter turboprop aircraft. The airline traces its history from Maritime Central Airways (MCA) from 1961. It merged with CP Air to form Canadian Pacific Air Lines in 1986.
Air Djibouti, also known as Red Sea Airlines, is the flag carrier of Djibouti. It first flew in 1963 and ceased all operations in 2002. In 2015, the airline was relaunched, first as a cargo airline and then, in 2016, with passenger services as well. It is headquartered in the capital, Djibouti.
Air BC was a Canadian regional airline headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It later became part of Air Canada Jazz. This regional airline primarily flew turboprop aircraft but also operated jets as well as an Air Canada Connector carrier on behalf of Air Canada via a code share feeder agreement.
Time Air was an airline in Canada founded in 1966 by businessman Walter “Stubb” Ross from Lethbridge in Alberta. It was called Lethbridge Air Service before becoming Time Airways Ltd. in 1969, which was later shortened to Time Air Ltd. In 1993 it was merged with Ontario Express to create Canadian Regional Airlines.
Schreiner Airways was a charter, passenger and cargo airline based in the Netherlands.
Calm Air International LP. is a full service airline, offering passenger, charter and freight services in northern Manitoba and the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut. It is owned by Exchange Income Corporation with its main base in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
NorOntair, stylized as norOntair, was a Canadian regional airline operating in northern Ontario from October 18, 1971 to March 29, 1996. It was as a subsidiary of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC), a provincial Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, with the stated goal of creating east-west links across northern Ontario.
Norcanair was the name of a Canadian airline that existed from 1947 to 1987, and again briefly in the early 1990s and from 2001 to 2005.
Evergreen International Aviation, Inc. was a global aviation services company based in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1960, Evergreen was primarily known publicly for commercial helicopter operations in agricultural and forestry applications.
Helicol S.A. is a helicopter operator based at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia. It is a subsidiary airline of Avianca.
Transair was an airline based in Canada. It was purchased by Pacific Western Airlines in 1979. Transair's operational headquarters was located at the Winnipeg International Airport in Manitoba.
Viking Air Ltd. was an operator and manufacturer of aircraft, as well as aircraft parts and systems, based at Victoria International Airport in North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The company provides upgrades to the DHC-2 Beaver, spare parts for older de Havilland Canada aircraft, and components for Bell Helicopter Textron. The company operated as a subsidiary of De Havilland Canada until it was amalgamated into it in August 2024.
Konrad Jonasson "Konnie" Johannesson was an Icelandic-Canadian aviator and ice hockey player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. As a pioneering aviator, he was instrumental in flight training as well as airport administration.
Ontario Central Airlines was a Canadian airline headquartered in Kenora, Ontario. It was founded in 1947 and served the Kenora District. It operated a wide range of aircraft, ranging from outdated passenger planes like the Douglas DC-3 to small bush planes like the Noorduyn Norseman.
The Grand Canyon mid-air collision occurred when Grand Canyon Airlines Flight 6, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, collided with a Bell 206 helicopter, Helitech Flight 2, over Grand Canyon National Park on June 18, 1986. All 25 passengers and crew on board the two aircraft were killed. It remains the deadliest accident involving a helicopter on United States soil, surpassing the crash of Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 in 1968, which killed 23 people.
PT Aviastar Mandiri, operating as Aviastar was an Indonesian passenger airline based in East Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
