Nationair
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Nationair was a Quebec-based airline that operated in the late 1980's and early 1990's. It operated bases in Montreal and Toronto, with seasonal bases in Quebec City as well as flights out of Hamilton, Ontario to London, England.
Was part of a parent company called Nolisair, which also owned Technair, the company that did maintenance for Nationair.
Nationair operated a number of sub-contracts all over the world, including one for Nigeria Airways where, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia it suffered a crash in which everyone on-board was killed on July 11, 1991. The cause of the crash was found to be under-inflated tires, which in turn caused overheated tires to catch fire, and failure of hydraulic systems and eventual in-flight break-up of the aircraft short of making an emergency landing.
The safety of the airline was often called into question but the President, Robert Obadia vehemently denied the accusations. Eventually, it would be discovered that the airline often flew aircraft that were unworthy, and that Transport Canada knew this, but did nothing about it, "losing" a Safety Review that cast the airline in a negative light. It was found that the aircraft that crashed in Saudi Arabia was un-airworthy for several days prior to the crash, and that staff had altered documentation in order for the flight to depart on July 11, 1991.
In November of 1991, Nationair Locked out its unionized Flight Attendants and proceeded to replace them with scabs. The Lockout lasted 15 months but by the time it ended, Nationair found itself in severe financial trouble, and filed for bankruptcy protection.
The President, Robert Obadia was later charged with fraud in connection with the bankrupcty.
Its ICAO airline code was NXA.
This is a horribly biased description of Nationair, it's directors, maintenance policies, and union issues. The author of this description is biased, and uninformed. I am neither a Nationair fan nor do I have any relation to that company. I simply feel that this article should be removed until better information can be found.
