Cherry Red Airline, also known as the Cherry Air Service, was the first airline in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. The company founded by Norman Cherry and H. Holroyde in 1928. Cherry had noticed an unmet demand for transportation services by mines in Saskatchewan (Consolidated Mining and Smelting) and decided to create an airline to meet that need.
The airline had a fleet consisting of two airplanes: a two-seat Pheasant biplane (C-CASR) and a six-seat Buhl CA-6 Airsedan** (CF-AAY). To earn extra revenue, Cherry decided to issue stamps starting at $0.10 for carrying airmail, making the airline the first airmail provider in Prince Albert. Of the existing stamps that were issued by the company are sought after by collectors.
The Great Depression (1929-39) brought about the end of the airline as mine traffic had dried up by 1932 the company had failed. The Buhl Airsedan CF-AAY had crashed in 1939 (written off from damage beyond repair in a forced landing accident due to engine failure Oct 5, 1929 near La Ronge, Sk, no fatalities). The Pheasant bi-plane was sold and, in 1932, it crash-landed, rendering it inoperable.
The Pheasant bi-plane languished in storage until the Moose Jaw branch of the Western Development Museum acquired it in 1950. Volunteers worked from 1960 to 1964 to restore it, and it has been in the museum’s permanent collection ever since. It is the oldest surviving airplane in Saskatchewan.