From Cabin Radio đ link to source story – thanks to PN
Ollie Williams ⢠March 28, 2022
Buffalo Airways has acquired a Boeing 737, the NWT-based airlineâs first jet aircraft, to meet customer demand for next-day freight delivery.

The 737-300SF is in Bournemouth, England receiving checks and new parts before arriving in the Northwest Territories for final upgrades specific to Canadian flight regulations.
For Buffalo, famed for continuing to operate World War Two-era DC-3 aircraft, the move into jet aviation is a significant step.
âItâs not clickbait. Itâs not April foolâs,â Buffaloâs Mikey McBryan told viewers of the airlineâs YouTube channel in a video shared on Friday last week.


Speaking to Cabin Radio on Sunday, McBryan said the 737 was necessary because existing freight connections into the NWT cannot keep up with next-day demand. The new aircraft should, he said, mean that âanything Yellowknifers need next day, weâre hoping to get.â
At the moment, freight carried by Buffalo mostly arrives in the Northwest Territories by truck. Cargo is then loaded onto the airlineâs DC-3 and C-46 aircraft, some of them approaching 80 years old, for onward travel to the territoryâs smaller communities.
The 737 will replace much of Buffaloâs reliance on trucks to get freight into its network.
âWeâre maxed out almost every single day with next-day freight,â said McBryan, whose company holds the NWT contracts for FedEx, UPS, and DHL.
âWeâre at the point now where we have enough freight that we can fly the 737 direct from Edmonton to Yellowknife, every night.â
The airlineâs freight division, Buffalo Air Express, is âa lot bigger than most people realize,â McBryan said.
âWe handle almost all of Alberta. We truck it to Hay River then fly it in the morning with the C-46. This is the first big step, where weâve got enough freight that we can go directly out of Edmonton.
âRight now, a service like Amazon Prime couldnât really exist in Yellowknife next-day. A service like Amazon Prime needs lots of room and guaranteed space, and other major companies are going that way.
âIt takes three to four days, sometimes, to get a truck out of Edmonton to Yellowknife, especially if you donât have a full truck. Our new system is going to be able to do the equivalent of two 53-foot trailers per night, including backhaul.â
No gravel airstrips
The company has been working on a striking green-and-white Buffalo livery for the new aircraft, which is set to arrive in Yellowknife for the first time within the next three months.
The 737 in question is reported to have been manufactured in 1986 and converted from a passenger jet to a cargo airliner in 2006, operating first for a Belgian company before being leased to Spanish firm SwiftAir.
Compared to Buffaloâs existing aircraft, the 737 is rated for around 10,000 lbs more cargo (a total of some 43,000 lbs) per flight. McBryan says that comes with âanywhere from 20 to 30 percent better fuel efficiency.â
However, it wonât be able to land on gravel airstrips, ruling out the vast majority of northern runways.
Smaller communities will continue to be served by the existing, decades-old Buffalo aircraft, suggesting the companyâs move into jet aviation does not yet end the era of the DC-3.
âThe DC-3, the C-46 and even our Lockheed Electras will continue to service the communities,â McBryan confirmed. âModern airplanes canât handle the runways of the North.â

The 737 could be operational by the late summer of 2022, McBryan said, depending on the various approvals the airline must first receive.
âIt takes mountains and mountains of paperwork,â he said.
That hasnât stopped more than 40 people seeking to fly the plane. As of Sunday evening, a LinkedIn job posting to become Buffaloâs first 737 pilot had attracted 42 applicants.
âInterestingly enough, a pilot that escaped Ukraine sent me a message,â said McBryan, referring to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
âHe left with his licence and a bag of clothes and heâs working his way to Canada. Heâs interested. Itâs great.
âItâs a lot easier to find 737 pilots than it is to find DC-3 pilots, thatâs for sure.â
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