It's not often I review economy flights, though this will be an exception. While we could have flown Air Canada between Whitehorse and Vancouver, we went out of our way to fly Air North, which bills itself as Yukon's airline. We arrived at Whitehorse Airport at around 6:20AM for our 7:30AM flight To Vancouver. The…
Continue reading: Review: Air North Economy 737 Whitehorse To Vancouver
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I think this might be one of my favourite OMAAT flight reviews. That home baked berry loaf looks great! Would much prefer to have that than most airline food.
@Lucky - Great review. Refreshing to know that there are still some inflight experiences that harken back to times past.
Highly recommend you visit Dawson City next summer. You can join the Sourtoe Cocktail Club while there!
“Drink it fast or drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe!”
@Lucky - if you are ever in the Canadian north again, you should visit Yellowknife. It is home to Buffalo Airways, which flies WWII Warbirds such as the C-46 or DC-3. There was a whole Documentary series based off of them (Ice Pilots), and Buffalo Airways also offers hanger tours. While they used to offer a scheduled commercial flight to Hay River, that flight has since been canceled due to safety concerns. However, based on their website, I think they still do charters on which you can fly their DC-3s...
This reminds me of that airline they also have in the U.S. called Alaska Airlines (with the Eskimo on the tail.) They don't do the coffee or homemade muffins or complimentary food or any of that, but they're friendly and their planes are the kind of simple old school style.
@ Alpha
I feel the same way about Alaska. When flying Alaska, I was treated like a friend and customer rather than just a number. Meanwhile AA treats people like walking freight. For this reason, 9/10 times I fly Delta for there mostly consistent southern hospitality.
Also, I thoroughly enjoyed this review.
Great fascinating review and pictures! My next adventure will take me through Whitehorse to the mesmerizing Gold Rush town of Dawson City, where hundreds of silent films were discovered in the permafrost. The films were discarded as trash as it was too expensive to mail them back to Hollywood after the movies' run, but those movies (many considered lost) were inadvertently saved by lying in the ground for decades. The find was documented in the recent movie 'Dawson City: Frozen Time'. Thanks again for the excellent preview of Air North!
Thanks for this review. It was such a joy to read and browse the pictures. I definitely want to give Air North a try the next time I'm in the area!
The airport and boarding gate experience reminds me of some of the airports throughout Alaska. AS also used to offer free coffee and sometimes even snacks on their early morning flights at the gate as well (like Sitka to Juneau at 6 AM). Gosh, I miss those times.
That Berry loaf clearly isn't home made, I don't know why you all think it is just because it's on a paper plate...
@lucky can you remember what flight level you were at going over those mountains pictured?
You should try Flair Air. I recently took a return trip on them from YVR to YEG and found them to be so much better then Air Canada and Westjet. The reviews I read online about flair got me worried but we lucked out on both flights, departed on time and the luggage made it there too. Plus very friendly crew!
@lucky you took a morning flight so missed the best part ... Warm cookie service
Sometimes it’s not the latest, luxurious or food. It’s all about the journey, the little things, the staff, holding departure cause John’s running 5 minutes late. I get it.
I think that the "home" feeling is the one that they wish to envoke with their customers, see this promo video of Air North here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jyf00HzbHg
Thanks Air North for spoiling domestic first class experience in the US, forever...
Wow. Genuinely one of the best reviews I’ve ever read here. It put a smile on my face throughout. Maybe the big boys can learn something from this level of genuine service.
Haha, I was going to say the same thing about Alaska, @Alpha and @Chip. There's definitely a homey feel to the airline, especially on their Horizon flights. I used to fly Seattle to Spokane and Pullman pretty often, and they still offer free local wine and beer on all their flights. The Pullman airport is just one big room divided by pre and post security. One time, my flight was cancelled, and one of the agents at the airport personally called me to discuss my options.
@Alpha @Chip and @Ana — I feel the same way about Alaska Airlines! Especially on their intra-Alaska flights. I always enjoyed flying the B737-Combi to Adak or the milk run in Southeast. The 10-minute flight between WRG and PBG never gets above 5,000’. It’s like bush flying in a 737. And don’t forget the pie in SIT! Seeing Air North’s planes is like looking at an all-economy version of Alaska’s in-state fleet.
Lucky, if you enjoyed that flight, you should burn a few AS miles flying to small towns in Alaska (only 5k o/w). Adak should be high on your list of the weirdest and most fascinating destinations.
Great review!
@Julian calling Ice Pilots a Documentary Series is pretty generous to the show and to Buffalo airways. The show just over dramaticized everything like any other reality show does and made them out to be heroes without mentioning that there are plenty of other companies doing the same things better up there.
Happy to read this Air North interview! I love to cheer for the 'little guys' over the big-box corporates such as American; it was refreshing to read through this facsinating review; worlds apart from your recent AirBaltic Economy 737 Tallinn To Riga. Hope this review generates some good 'word-of-mouth' vibes for Air North:)
Sounds a lot like Porter with the amazing service and the extremely friendly and generous staff.
I remember westjet being like this when they first started. Still had old 737 s maybe a dozen with the ashtrays having Chinese writing on it. Commuted on them to Calgary from Vancouver weekly and the feel was very much like this . A few times the CEO was on board and would stand up and thank everyone for their patronage. Now indistinguishable from Air Canada other them most of the time more expensive. Oh the good old days.
The Air North cheesecakes are so popular they are now sold in the grocery stores. And, everything on the plane is sourced, prepared, and cooked at the flight kitchen at the Whitehorse airport. You should see the meals on the Yellowknife/Ottawa flights!
Ice Pilots has Lockheed Electras, recently acquiring several from a freight airline called Air Atlantic based at Coventry in England.
Loved this review - took me back to flying in the 70s thru early 90s on Air NZ’s old 737 219s - I see these guys still have one with JT8-D engines - and the later 737-319s, all since replaced with A320s. British Airways used to have 737s with those padded seats and decent legroom. I often run the tail number to see who’s owned such a plane before.
Loved the food service. I have occasionally had food packaged like that on charter services to obscure parts of Eastern Europe where the ‘flight kitchen’ is a local caterer. The grub is always excellent.
What a great report and a great looking airline. Would love to try them sometime. Food looks good!
Next to Air North our next favourite airline is Pacific Coastal which efficiently serves many small towns in BC that might not otherwise have any air connection- some far inland like the Smelter City of Trail . Pacific Coastal also has an unusual agreement to fly between Cranbrook BC and Calgary using their 34 passenger prop jets .
We were on Air North YVR-YXY-YYC to try and see the Northern lights. During COVID you still get good, friendly service! Each flight was 2+ hours. We had two beverage services, a choice of three sandwiches and a warm cookie on each flight. Definitely a throw back to the good old days of service rather than excuses. As a point of comparison we flew DL first class MCO-SEA-YVR. For 6+ hours we got a single box with a few half slices of banana bread and random bags of nuts and crackers. My wife got chia oatmeal. Sounded good until you open the box to find a sealed cup type container with a three month expiration date. YYC-MSP-MCO same DL scenario. DL and Air North FA's were great. The manner in which the companies provide for the passengers couldn't be more night and day. Some things haven't changed since your Air North flight. Some seem like they will never improve.