Inter-Dominion Air Lines

Inter-Dominion Air Lines is one of British Columbia's two flag-carrier airlines, focussing on scheduled continental and overseas international services.

Inter-Dominion serves 39 destinations (4 domestic, 20 continental, 15 international) in 18 countries.

The airline operates a multi-discipline sports club based in Burkeville, Richmond, the Inter-Dominion Air Lines Sports Club Richmond. Although primarily amateur, its men's football section is semi-professional and plays in the fourth tier of the BC football pyramid.

= History = Imperial Airways of the United Kingdom established its first permanent North American presence in 1927, purchasing four DH.66 Hercules airliners from De Havilland BC in 1929. Two years later, the Dominion government pointed out to Imperial Airways that the conditions set out in the Dominion's Railway Act which govern foreign ownership of railway companies in British Columbia are applicable to air transport as well, the BC operations were spun off into a separate BC subsidiary called British Columbia Air Lines (BCAL).

In 1936, BCAL was renamed Inter-Dominion Air Lines (IDAL) to coincide with the inauguration of a through service linking Victoria, BC with St John's, Newfoundland through Canada, linking the British Empire's three North American Dominions. Flying DH.86C Express aircraft carrying up to 16 passengers, the "Inter-Dominion Service", as it was called, had a weekly departure from each end, with the eastbound route being Victoria – Vancouver – Calgary, Alberta – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Fort William, Ontario – Sudbury, Ontario – Ottawa, Ontario – Montreal, Quebec – Fredericton, New Brunswick – Halifax, Nova Scotia – St John's, a total of 2,989 nautical miles (3,335 statute miles). With an a cruising speed of 123 knots, the complete trip was scheduled at 25 hours 13 minutes.

When Imperial Airways was merged into the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in 1939, it remained a subsidiary of the new airline; this situation continued after BOAC was merged into British Airways in 1974. Following the privatisation of British Airways in 1987, IDAL was transformed into a fully autonomous joint-stock company listed on the London Stock Exchange with British Airways holding 100% of the shares in 1989. By 1991 British Columbian interests, including the Bank of BC, British Columbia Rover-Leyland and the Pattison Group, had acquired majority control of the airline. As of 2022, British Airways still hold a 4.9% share of Inter-Dominion.

In 1981, Inter-Dominion sold its routes connecting Cassiar and Mackenzie in northern BC with Canada's northern territories and Alberta to Northern Thunderbird Air; included in the package were all ten DC-9-15 aircraft which had been used on those routes.

In June 2020, Inter-Dominion entered into a codeshare agreement with Air Koryo of North Korea.

Incidents

 * 18 November 1938: DH.86 VB-BRC (c/n C81/1935), operating as a cargo flight from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Vancouver, crashed shortly after take-off from Regina, Saskatchewan. Both crewmembers were killed.
 * 1956 https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19561209-1
 * 13 May 2002 MD-11 VB-xxx, operating as Flight ID116 from Vancouver to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was on final approach to Toronto approximately ten miles from the airport when the flight crew received a fire warning from the aft cargo bay; the crew activated the fire extinguishers according to the checklist procedures and declared an emergency. Although the fire indication went out about thirty seconds after the extinguishers were activated, the cabin crew noticed a slight smell of smoke. The aircraft landed and stopped on the runway to allow firefighters to inspect it for fire, but no sign of fire was found with infrared sensors. The aircraft taxied to the terminal, stopping forty feet back from the gate, where firefighters opened the cargo compartment for a detailed inspection. Upon opening of the door, a large amount of smoke was observed as firefighters entered the compartment and confirmed that the fire had been extinguished. Canadian Transportation Safety Board investigators discovered that a small but intense fire had occurred, causing significant structural damage to the floor of the aft cargo compartment, progressing roughly eighteen inches up the right side wall of the aircraft outside the cargo hold. The fire was deemed to have been caused by an electrical failure in the heater tape used to prevent water lines from freezing; the failure ignited the covering of the insulation blankets installed below the open cargo floor. There were no injuries amongst the eight cree and 177 passengers aboard. The aircraft was subsequently repaired and returned to service.
 * 26 August 2018 A330-200 VB-xxx, operating as Flight ID194 from Vancouver to Dublin, Ireland, declared a MAYDAY after the flight crew heard a loud bang from the number 2 engine and detected a power loss and abnormal engine indications whilst climbing through FL100 shortly after departure from Vancouver. The engine was brought to idle and the aircraft returned to Vancouver, where an overweight landing was executed; there were no injuries amongst the 8 crew and 227 passengers aboard. After the landing, airport authorities detected debris on Runway 08R/26L and closed it for cleanup. An initial visual inspection of the engine revealed extensive damage to the aftmost turbine blades, as well as punctures in the inboard aileron and fuselage aft of the baggage door caused by debris exiting the engine exhaust. The engine was sent to the manufacturer for teardown and inspection; the aircraft was repaired and returned to service.

= Fleet = Inter-Dominion operates a total of 84 aircraft.

Current

 * Airbus A321neo - 12 (2018 to date), +22 on order to be delivered by 2028
 * Airbus A330-200 - 16 (2003 to date), to be retired by 2027
 * Airbus A330-900 - 0, +10 on order to be delivered 2022–2025
 * Airbus A350-900 - 9 (2016 to date)
 * McDonnell Douglas MD-90 - 5 (1988 to date), to be retired by 2024
 * Tupolev Tu-204-220 - 18 (2001 to date), to be retired by 2026
 * Tupolev Tu-204SM - 24 (2017 to date), +22 on order to be delivered by 2026

Historic

 * Airbus A340-300 - 8 (1995–2019)
 * Airspeed Ambassador - 6 (1948–1961)
 * Armstrong-Whitworth Argosy II - 3 (1927–1938), new for Imperial Airways
 * Avro Canada C-102 Jetliner - 10 (1953–1964), 3 sold to Awyr Cymru Newydd in 1963
 * De Havilland Comet 4 - 6 (1959–1970)
 * De Havilland Comet 4C - 8 (1961–1970)
 * DHBC DH.50B Bluebird - 4 (1932–1958), new for BC Air Lines
 * DHBC DH.66B Hercules - 4 (1929–1937), new for Imperial Airways
 * DHBC DH.86C Express - 4 (1935–1936), new for BC Air Lines
 * DHBC DH.91B Albatross - 4 (1938–1947)
 * DHBC-1 Dove - 2 (1949–1969), pilot training
 * DHBC-2 Heron 3 - 3 (1951–1965)
 * DHBC-2 Heron 3B - 5 (1952–1963)
 * DHBC-4 Skylark - 9 (1956–1971)
 * DHBC-5 Swan - 7 (1963–1976), used on northern routes
 * DHBC-7 Trident 7A - 25 (1967–2001)
 * DHBC-7 Trident 7B - 12 (1970–2007)
 * DHBC-7 Trident 7D - 18 (1974–2013)
 * DHBC-7 Skookum Trident - 25 (1979–2013)
 * DHBC-9A Kehloke 1 - 12 (1985–2002)
 * Douglas DC-3 - 12 (1937–1956)
 * Douglas DC-4 - 5 (1943–1954)
 * Douglas DC-8-43 - 7 (1961–1977)
 * Douglas DC-9-15 - 10 (1967–1981), used on northern routes
 * Junkers Ju-52/3m - 4 (1933–1946), new for BC Air Lines
 * Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation - 4 (1954–1963)
 * McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 - 16 (1973–1994)
 * McDonnell Douglas MD-11 - 14 (1988–2009)
 * McDonnell Douglas MD-90 - 37 (1988-2021)
 * Northrop Delta - 2 (1933–1945), new for BC Air Lines
 * Vickers Super VC10 - 4 (1968–1976)

BC-made aircraft
''Note: a green background indicates an aircraft in service, a yellow background indicates a retired aircraft, and a pink background indicates an aircraft lost in an accident.

Fleet timeline
= Routes = There are codeshare agreements with Air Koryo, Air New Zealand, Asiana Airlines, British Airways, Hawkair, Kootenay Airways, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Royal Hawaiian Airlines, and Thai Airways International.

Entries with a green background indicates a destination in British Columbia.