Talk:Pacific Coastal Airlines

Grumman image
There is an image of a Grumman Goose aircraft on Wikimedia commons: The aircraft is one from Pacific Coastal Airlines. The image is very wide, but if it were cropped it would look good in the "accidents and incidents" section of this article, where the Grumman Goose is heavily featured.-- Lester 

Someone at PCA vandalizing?
In what has to be the 3rd or 4th time recently, I've rolled back an edit from an anonymous person who deleted one or more of the incidents on the plane. Who would be doing this? Someone at PCA? Greg Salter (talk) 15:23, 28 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, the IP editor appears to be correct here. The incident was extremely minor (fails WP:AIRCRASH miserably) and does not have a valid ref - it's a forum, which is not considered a reliable source. I support removal of this bullet point. (Invitation to comment on this discussion has been posted at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Aviation/Aviation accident task force) AK Radecki Speaketh  14:39, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Hmmm, I didn't think this fell under the "Accidents notability" (as there was no crash), but rather "Airline notability" (which unfortunately is undefined still). I've also improved the reference with one from the Victoria Times Colonist. Regardless, the IP editor should have added a discussion or at least edit comments to explain. Greg Salter (talk) 14:52, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
 * The 28 November 2007 Short 360 landing gear entry neither notable nor particularly unusual. It is just just one of the everyday things that happens in aviation, nobody killed nothing broke lets just delete it and move on. MilborneOne (talk) 17:35, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Hangon, are we now to start applying an essay as the standard justification for deleting paragraphs?? This is getting more and more bogus. Justification for deleting the para is simply WP:NOTNEWS. Leave it at that. LeadSongDog (talk) 18:18, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, whatever. I did notice that he just went and did a bunch of undocumented changes again today just as the lock was lifted, including undoing you own (very minor) change, LeadSongDog. Greg Salter (talk) 14:57, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

History bogus?
See this article from 1978.LeadSongDog (talk) 18:25, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Google Books doesn't work on my old PC. What are you getting at? Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 00:27, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * The ref gives considerable history predating 1979. From page 11 of the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle of April 12, 1978, entitled "Building Pacific Coasal Airlines - Pilot Faced Long Struggle", it reads:

"Just about the fastest-growing airline on Vancouver Island, and probably in all of B.C., is Pacific Coastal Airlines Ltd., based at Cassidy Airport, near Ladysmith. For owner and president Don McGillivary, the airline's success did not happen overnight. He says it was a long struggle "and sometimes still is." With a grin, he added that the bank manager still phones occasionally, "which suggests I must be a better pilot than I am a businessman." The present size of the operation, however, leaves no doubt that it's in capable hands and still gaining altitude. Don started commercial flying in 1959, after a five-year stint in the Royal Canadian Air Force.  Mainly engaged in bush piloting, he logged endless hours of tiring and sometimes hazardous flying, but it paid off. In 1963, he owned a small Nanaimo-based airline which he sold in 1966.  Moving to Cassidy, he established his present-day fleet, which is available for charter flights to anywhere in Canada and the United States. In addition, he has a regular scheduled flight from Nanaimo to Vancouver, another from Vancouver to Qualicum and Port Alberni, and a more recently introduced one from Victoria to Nanaimo, Comox, Campbell River, Port Hardy and Sandspit. Today, his fleet consists of two Bell helicopters and four fixed-wing aircraft, the largest being a DC3. The DC3, more commonly known as a Dakota, is probably the best-known twin-engined commercial workhorse and dates back to the early days of World War Two. And it's still no museum piece. Don's Dakota was built in 1942 and, with a succession of new engines, has 45,000 hours to its credit. Of all-metal construction, it still looks as good as the day it was first test flown. She carries 32 passengers and a crew of three. Today,one might imagine a Dakota to be a rarity. It is not. There are over 3,000 of them still in commercial operation on this continent. And of all twin-engine commercial planes flying in Canada today, the Dakota heads the list. Don himself has logged 15,000 hours in the process of building up his airline. "I started off as poor as anyone," he says, but he's certainly rich in experiences, even if a little too modest in describing them. He and his nine fellow-pilots flew an average of 3,000 passengers a month during January and February of this year. In the peak season of July and August, this figure climbs to an average 6,500 a month. Traffic in March of this year, he said, was three times what it was in March, 1977. These impressive figures are understandable.With a return air fare from Cassidy to Vancouver as low as $20, it would be a very short-sighted executive who wasted valuable time crossing by ferry."

Unless this refers to a different airline by the same name, the history needs revising.LeadSongDog (talk) 09:08, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

— As a former pilot who took flying lessons from Pacific Coastal Airlines Cassidy (Nanaimo) during 1975 on a Cessna 172 (from my pilot log book) the above information with regards to Don McGillivary and the airlines is correct. They also had a Beech 18 if I recall correctly. 184.66.84.255 (talk) 19:41, 2 November 2019 (UTC)

This certainly sounds like the same airline as above.
 * Maybe you could contact the airline itself and see what's what, before tackling a revision. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 13:07, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Checked Flight International archives for the 31 March 1998 issue at and  and found that "Pacific Coastal Airlines was founded more than 40 years ago as a result of the merger between Powell Air and the Port Hardy division of AirBC" (hence pre-1958).  The address shown is the same as now.
 * In the 20 March 1976 issue of Flight International page 703 says "Pacific Coastal Airlines Ltd flies daily services from Nanaimo Airport, Cassidy, British Columbia, Canada to Vancouver, Port Alberni and Qualicum Bay Airports. A charter service is also available from Nanaimo Airport to all points in British Columbia and the western USA. Other activities are freight, flight training and helicopter charter work under the name of McGillivary Helicopters Ltd. Fleet includes one Beech Super H18, two Piper Aztecs, two Cessna 172s and two Bell 47 helicopters."

Since this is apparently a currently-existing airline, it seems like you could find some things out more directly, i.e. by asking them. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 19:01, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * You could, but what's the point? They wouldn't be considered a WP:RS on themselves. We need verifiable sources with a reputation for fact checking.LeadSongDog (talk) 21:12, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Not as a "reliable source" for the article directly, but to convince yourself that you're on the right track - or not. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 21:22, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * As a comparison, last year I had a question about a fact that was reported in the Elias Baseball Record Book, and I called them to ask about it. That phone call was not used for the article, I just wanted to find out more background on it. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? 21:33, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

This definitely refers to a different airline with the same name. I don't have any references, but here's an approximate history:

Powell Air was formed in 1979 by Daryl Smith. In 1987, Jimmy Pattison sold AirBC to Air Canada, Powell Air got the float division, and became Pacific Coastal Airlines under the ownership of Daryl Smith and another un-named partner.

So, apparently at some point between 1979 and 1987, the Pacific Coastal Airlines referenced in the newspaper article ceased to exist.70.71.243.53 (talk) 02:27, 24 January 2009 (UTC)