Established in 1989 as Kelner Airways,[9] it was renamed Wasaya in 1993. The new name comes from the Oji-Cree language, which means "it is bright" in English, in reference to the brightness of the rising Sun.
Over the years, the airline has grown from a floatplane operation to a charter and scheduled passenger service airline.
As of July 2024, Wasaya Airways had 17 aircraft listed on their website, however individual numbers are not listed, and registered with Transport Canada.[3][4]
On 12 June 2012, a Wasaya Airways Hawker Siddeley HS 748 caught fire while unloading JET A-1 jet fuel at Sandy Lake Airport in Northwestern Ontario. No injuries were reported. The aircraft burned to the ground, and only the left wing and nacelle survived.[12]
On 11 December 2015, Wasaya Airways Flight 127, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, while en route from Pickle Lake Airport to Angling Lake/Wapekeka Airport, crashed approximately 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) north northeast of Pickle Lake Airport. The pilot was the sole occupant and was killed in the crash. The probable cause for the accident was flying in known or forecast icing conditions although the aircraft was prohibited from doing that, and a high take-off weight that increased the severity of degraded performance when the flight encountered icing conditions.[13][14]
