Yukon Southern Transport evolved in 1939 from an earlier company
called United Air Transport, owned and operated by Grant
McConachie, who wanted to be the dominating figure in northern
air transportation. McConachie’s efforts were impressive from as
early on as 1934 to 1935. At that time, his company consisted of four planes,
four mechanics, and four pilots who hauled half-a-million
kilograms of fish from Peter Pond Lake in northern Saskatchewan
to Cheecham, Alberta. McConachie owned a Ford tri-motor that he used for
exhibitions at summer fairs and to make a profit transporting
businessmen across the Rockies to Vancouver when they needed to
get there fast.
By 1937, Grant McConachie’s United Air Transport was
providing regular mail and transport to the Grande Prairie and
Peace River area. Results of the importance of air travel
efforts were underway to improve the air in Grande Prairie.
McConachie announced that he would start flying once a week
between Edmonton and Whitehorse in April, with stops at Grande
Prairie, Fort St John, Fort Nelson, and Lower Post (located on
the British Columbia and Yukon board). This service would travel
to Whitehorse and beyond to Dawson. The first flight occurred in
July 1937. By 1939, there was so much flying activity in the
Grande Prairie and Peace River region that a new company called
Peace River Airways was
established locally . Two other air
companies, Mackenzie Air Service and Canadian Airways, were also
in business at this time. Yukon Southern Transport purchased a
new Barkley-Grows aircraft with twin engines to keep up with the
demand.
With changing demands and tough competition, most air
companies servicing northern communities found that they were
facing financial difficulties by 1940. With the Second World War
underway, factories were producing wartime supplies, and parts
were expensive and hard to find, which only added to the
troubles faced by Yukon Southern Transport.
The effect of the Depression and the beginning of the Second
World War culminated in the creation of Canadian Pacific Air
Lines Ltd. on 24 March 1942. The Canadian Pacific Railway
formed the new company by buying ten smaller regional air
companies that were located across Canada. Among the companies
purchased were Yukon Southern Transport, Arrow Airways, British
Yukon Navigation Co., Dominion Skyways Ltd., Mackenzie Air
Service, Prairie Airways Ltd., Quebec Airways Ltd., Strarratt
Airways and Transportation Ltd., Wings Ltd., and Canadian Airways.
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