Flight West Airlines was established by Sir Dennis Buchanan[2] in 1987 to operate subsidised passenger services to remote communities on Queensland Government contracts.

Initially, the airline used Beechcraft Super King Air aircraft on these services from a base in Brisbane[3] and then quickly expanded, adding DHC-6 Twin Otters and an EMB 110 Flight West Airlines added Jetstream 32's and then ex Ansett Airlines Fokker F28 to initially operate the Brisbane Norfolk Island RPT service later purchasing 2 Fokker 100 (F28 MK100) to the fleet.

Before entering liquidation in June 2001, Flight West serviced 34 destinations and employed over 420 staff.

Ansett announced on 27 June that they would lease eight of the company's aircraft and restart 16 routes effective immediately.

Most of the assets of Flight West including the Fokker jets were purchased and the Embraer EMB 120s were sold.

Alliance Airlines operated the Fokker 100s on selected charter routes from Brisbane, Townsville and Mount Isa for a period of time before suspending these regular services and operating ad hoc charter services.