Canada’s oldest airline was founded by Chuck and Jack Austin in 1934 and was based on Ramsey Lake in Sudbury Ontario after 1938. Austin Airways played a leading role in the development of Northern Ontario. It started out mainly flying mining executives to remote northern sites but quickly diversified into hauling freight, fighting forest fires, training pilots, transporting tourists, aerial photography,  surveying and prospecting. Austin was the employer of legendary pilot Thurston (Rusty) Blakey who logged over 30 000 hours in the air for the company in his 49 years with them.