n. — Transportation
an airline operating in remote areas, usually in Northern Canada.
Type: 5. Frequency — Bush line is an abbreviation of bush airline. The term bush is associated with remoteness and uninhabited areas that have not been cleared of trees, which are particularly common in the Canadian North. Bush airline appears most frequently in Canada (see Chart 1).
See also Gage-1, s.v. "bush line", which is marked "Cdn.", ITP Nelson, s.v. "bush line", which is marked "Canadian".
See also: bush party
- 1939  The bush air lines are essential and deserve the same consideration from the Dominion government [...] 
- 1945  "Some fliers get the idea they would like to start a bush line," an official said. 
- 1977  Yesterday Qantas was a bush line, but today the airline serves the world. 
- 1984  Pacific Western Airlines was little more than a bush line before the Kitimat-Kemano project gave it an economic shot in the arm 30 years ago. 
- 1992  The early passenger airlines, such as Canadian Airways and Canadian Pacific, developed out of bush lines. 
- 1999  In 1942, Grant became the president of Canadian Pacific Airways, an amalgamation of 10 bush lines and the CPR company. 
- 2013  In 1939, with a new baby brother at home and the prospect of boarding school in Southern Ontario in the fall, Jim went to Sudbury to learn to fly. His uncles Chuck and Jack had started Austin Airways, a bush airline that grew and grew (and later became part of Porter Airlines). 
Images:
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 16 Sep. 2013