View source for Nolisair

{{Short description|Defunct Canadian air transport company}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Nationair|Nations Air|National Airlines (disambiguation){{!}}National Airlines}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox airline
| airline = Nationair Canada
| image = 
| IATA = NX
| ICAO = NXA
| callsign = NATION AIRWAYS
| aoc = 
| hubs = 
| focus_cities = 
| frequent_flyer = 
| fleet_size = 30
| destinations = 
| parent = 
| num_employees = 
| lounge = 
| logo = NationAirLogo.png
| logo_size = 180px
| headquarters = [[Montréal-Mirabel International Airport]]<br />[[Mirabel, Quebec|Mirabel]], [[Quebec]]
| bases = {{Unbulleted list|
   |{{nowrap|[[Montréal–Mirabel International Airport|Montréal–Mirabel]]}}
   |{{nowrap|[[Toronto Pearson International Airport|Toronto–Pearson]]}}
   }}
| founded = 1986
| ceased = 1993|
}}

[[File:Nationair DC-8-63.jpg|thumb|A Nationair Canada [[Douglas DC-8]]-63 in 1987 at [[EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg]] in the old livery.]]
'''Nolisair''' was a Canadian company, the parent company of '''Nationair Canada''', a Canadian [[airline]], and of '''Technair''', an aircraft maintenance company. The company was owned by [[Robert Obadia]]. The headquarters was located in the Nationair Canada Building on the property of [[Montréal-Mirabel International Airport]] in [[Mirabel, Quebec|Mirabel]], [[Quebec]].<ref>''The Europa World Year Book, 1989''. [[Europa Publications]], August 1, 1991. [https://books.google.com/books?id=CmOUWTetnQ4C&q=%22Nationair%22+Mirabel 667]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on June 11, 2012. "Nationair Canada: Nationair Bldg, Cargo Rd Al, Montreal International Airport (Mirabel), Mirabel, Que J7N 1A5"</ref>

In July 1991, a wet-leased Nationair Canada [[Douglas DC-8]] operating as [[Nigeria Airways Flight 2120]] caught fire shortly after takeoff and crashed just seconds short of an emergency landing, killing all 261 on board. During the investigation, investigators discovered that the project manager for that flight had pressured the Technair crew into releasing the aircraft with underinflated tyres. Two tyres on the left bogie lost structural integrity due to heat build-up and ended up failing during the takeoff roll, leading to the tyre remnants bursting into flames and compromising the aircraft when the landing gear was retracted. The accident exposed several operating problems with the airline and was a major contributing factor to the company's collapse in 1993.<ref name="mayday">[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2114094/ The Internet Movie Database: Mayday (Season 11 - Episode 9 - Under Pressure)]</ref>

Nationair was not related to a separate defunct airline based in the U.S. with a similar name, [[Nations Air]], which was not established until after Nationair had ceased operations.

== Nationair Canada ==
[[File:Nationair Canada Boeing 747-200 Durand.jpg|thumb|A Nationair Canada [[Boeing 747-200]] at [[Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport]] in April 1990 in the new livery.]]
Nationair Canada operated charter as well as scheduled passenger services in the late 1980s and early 1990s from bases in [[Montreal]] and [[Toronto]], with seasonal bases in [[Quebec City]] as well as flights out of [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]], Ontario to [[London]], England. At one point, Nationair Canada was Canada's third largest airline, after [[Air Canada]] and [[Canadian Airlines]] International.

Destinations during the winter months consisted mostly of sunny destinations in [[Florida]], [[California]], the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Summer destinations included [[Vancouver]] and [[Calgary]] but had a heavy emphasis on European destinations - mainly England, Scotland, Portugal and France. The airline also had year-round scheduled service between Montreal [[Mirabel Airport]] and Brussels, Belgium, serving the route up to daily.  In 1988, the airline was operating nonstop service on a scheduled basis between Toronto and London [[Gatwick Airport]].<ref>https://www.timetableimages.com, Nov. 1988 Nationair timetable</ref>  According to the [[Official Airline Guide]] (OAG), in 1989 Nationair Canada was operating scheduled nonstop service from Hamilton to London Gatwick as well as nonstop flights from Montreal Mirabel to Brussels with both services being flown with [[Douglas DC-8]] ( stretched "Super DC-8") aircraft.<ref>https://www.departedflights.com, 1989 Official Airline Guide (OAG), London Gatwick & Brussels flight schedules</ref>

The airline also tried going head-to-head with [[Air Canada]] and [[Canadian Airlines International]] operating scheduled flights between Toronto and Montreal, offering low fares and flexible ticketing conditions. However, this scheduled domestic service was fairly short-lived.

During shoulder periods and in order to maximize use of its aircraft, Nationair Canada did a number of sub-contracts. These would sometimes, but not always, include flight attendants as well. This enabled Nationair Canada aircraft to see duty in the Middle East during the run up to the Gulf War doing evacuations, work for the United Nations moving troops into Namibia as well as flights for [[Nigerian Airways]] in 1991, in which one flight [[Nigeria Airways Flight 2120|ended in disaster]].

Nationair Canada also did a number of sub-charters for airlines such as [[Hispania Líneas Aéreas]], [[British European Airlines]], [[Garuda Indonesia]], [[Union des Transports Aériens]] (UTA) and [[LTU International]] (LTU). Nationair Canada had been operating some flights for UTA in 1989 during the period where [[UTA Flight 772]] was destroyed inflight.

==Accidents and incidents==
{{Main|Nigeria Airways Flight 2120}}
Nationair Canada operated a number of sub-contracts all over the world, including [[Nigeria Airways Flight 2120]] for [[Nigeria Airways]] which crashed at [[Jeddah, Saudi Arabia]] on 11 July 1991, killing all 247 passengers and 14 crew members on board. It was and remains the deadliest aviation accident involving a Canadian airline and a McDonnell Douglas DC-8.<ref name="mayday"/>

The cause of the crash was found to be under-inflated tires, which in turn caused overheated tyres to catch fire, and failure of [[hydraulic]] systems and eventual in-flight break-up of the aircraft short of making an emergency landing.<ref name="mayday"/>

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 unairworthy, and that [[Transport Canada]] knew this, but did nothing about it, "losing" a safety review that cast the airline in a negative light.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} It was later found that the aircraft that crashed in [[Saudi Arabia]] had been unairworthy for several days prior to the crash, and that staff had altered documentation in order for the flight to depart on time. In an interview for an episode of ''[[Mayday (Canadian TV series)|Mayday]]'' covering the accident, Nolisair executive William Fowler opined that the project managers Nolisair assigned to charter operations, including Flight 2120 victim Aldo Tetamenti, had unintentionally degraded safety culture by placing excessive pressure on maintenance crews.<ref name="mayday"/>

By the time it was publicly disclosed that the cause of the crash was negligence on the part of the company, it had already undergone bankruptcy and dissolution for several years.

==Bankruptcy==
[[File:Nationair Canada Boeing 757-200 Gilliand.jpg|thumb|A Nationair Canada [[Boeing 757-200]]]]
The aircrash, combined with Nationair Canada's poor reputation for on-time service and mechanical problems led to serious problems with public image and reliability among tour operators. These difficulties were compounded when Nationair Canada locked out its unionized flight attendants and proceeded to replace them with [[strikebreaker]]s on November 19, 1991. The [[lockout (industry)|lockout]] lasted 15 months and by the time it ended in early 1993, Nationair Canada found itself in severe financial trouble, and filed for [[bankruptcy protection]].

The company went bankrupt in the spring of 1993 after it was discovered that it owed the government millions of dollars in unpaid [[landing fee]]s. [[Creditors]] began seizing airplanes and demanded cash up front for services.

The company was declared bankrupt in May 1993, owing [[Canadian dollar|CAD$]]75 million.<ref>[http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-0-17-1681-11554-10/index_souvenirs/politique_economie/nationair_faillite Nationair plie bagages - Souvenirs - Les Archives de Radio-Canada<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 1997 Robert Obadia pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud in relation to the company's activities.<ref>[http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/14/14802.htm "Robert Obadia doit verser 234 000 $ à ses créanciers" - Radio-Canada Nouvelles:<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224202347/http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/14/14802.htm |date=2013-12-24 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of Canadian disasters by death toll]]
*[[Douglas DC-8]]
* [[List of defunct airlines of Canada]]

==Fleet==
{| class="wikitable toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="margin:1em auto; border-collapse:collapse"
|- bgcolor=lightblue
!Aircraft
!No.
!Notes
|-
|[[Douglas DC-8|Douglas DC-8-50CF]]
|1
|Sole aircraft used as a [[Cargo aircraft|freighter]] for the airline.
|-
|[[Douglas DC-8|Douglas DC-8-60]]
|10
|C-GMXQ, DC-8-61, was written off as [[Nigeria Airways Flight 2120|Flight 2120]] while operating for [[Nigeria Airways]].
N22UA and N23UA were leased from United Aviation Services
|-
|[[Boeing 747|Boeing 747-100]]
|5
|
|-
|[[Boeing 747|Boeing 747-200]]
|4
|N303TW and N304TW were leased from [[Trans World Airlines]]
|-
|[[Boeing 757|Boeing 757-200]]
|10
|
|-
|Total:
|30
|
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nationair}}
*[http://www.nationair-canada.com Nationair Canada History on the Web]
*[http://rzjets.net/operators/?show=953 Fleet and Code information]

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{{Defunct airlines of Canada}}
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[[Category:Defunct airlines of Canada]]
[[Category:Airlines established in 1984]]
[[Category:Airlines disestablished in 1993]]
[[Category:Companies based in Quebec]]
[[Category:Mirabel, Quebec]]