The quest to provide safe, reliable passenger air transportation in Alaska is a complex puzzle

Providing reliable air transportation in Alaska is a challenging business.

Flying in and out of Anchorage and Fairbanks is one thing. But servicing destinations off the road system is more complicated. Much of the traffic is seasonal. Otherwise, there are not a lot of travelers. The weather often is horrible. Everything is more expensive.

Aleutian Airways started flying one route about four years ago: Anchorage-Dutch Harbor, using a Saab 2000 twin-prop plane.

In many ways, Aleutian, which is owned by Orlando-based Sterling Airways, rose from the ashes of Peninsula Airways, or PenAir. Sterling Airways is owned by Wexford Capital. Wexford’s senior vice president is Wayne Heller, who is CEO of Sterling Airways.

It was PenAir that worked for a long time to get the Saab 2000 certified to fly out to Dutch Harbor. Many of the aircraft that Aleutian Airways now fly used to be part of the PenAir fleet.

Aleutian Airways has five Saab 2000s in its fleet. According to Brian Whilden, Aleutian’s general manager, the carrier has two more of the planes on order.

Since the carrier started flying to Dutch Harbor four years ago, it has added several new destinations from Anchorage. During the busy crab fishing season, Aleutian can operate as many as four scheduled flights per day. The flights are not cheap: up to $1,039 one-way on the airline’s website.

Part of the equation for flying out to Dutch Harbor is the weather. Recently, storms blew through Dutch Harbor and flights were canceled. Hundreds of travelers were stuck in Anchorage, waiting for the weather to clear. Earlier this week, many of the stranded travelers eventually were able to land safely in Dutch Harbor.

The first additions were other destinations on the Alaska Peninsula: Cold Bay and Sand Point. Also, Aleutian began seasonal flights for the salmon season in King Salmon. Again, on the busiest days, three or four flights were scheduled.

Anchorage-King Salmon is the one route where Aleutian competes with Alaska Airlines, which flies the route year-round in conjunction with its regional airline subsidiary, Horizon Air.

The next markets Aleutian targeted were on the Kenai Peninsula: Kenai and Homer.

The carrier’s Homer service was interrupted while Alaska’s Department of Transportation and Public Facilities resurfaced the runway. Currently, Aleutian flies between Anchorage and Homer once a day, leaving at 7:30 a.m. Whilden said they plan to add a second daily flight next month. Tickets cost about $200 one-way.

Aleutian also flies to Kenai once each day. By contrast, Grant Aviation flies 27 times per day. There’s a big difference, though. Aleutian flies the route in a 46-passenger ATR42-600 twin-prop. Grant operates nine-passenger Cessna 208s on the route.

Earlier this month, Aleutian Airways took delivery of its first ATR aircraft. This aircraft actually is operated by another air carrier owned by Sterling Airways: Argentum Airways. Aleutian Airways pays Argentum to fly the Anchorage-Kenai and Anchorage-Homer routes using the ATR plane, which is painted in Aleutian Airways’ colors.

This seems like a fancy shell game to me. But the ATR aircraft is on a separate operating certificate, from Silver Airways, a now-defunct Florida-based air carrier acquired by Sterling Airways.

According to Whilden, two more ATR72-600 planes are planned for the Argentum fleet to fly for Aleutian Airways. The ATR72s are larger than the ATR42, with a capacity of as many as 78 passengers.

However, Whilden said there will be “fewer” seats on the aircraft, to avoid setting up TSA screening stations at the carrier’s airports. Both the Saab 200s and the ATR42s are exempt from TSA metal-detector screening at the terminal in Anchorage and at the carrier’s stations around the state.

While the ATR aircraft can operate quickly and easily on routes to the Kenai Peninsula, the plane was essential for Aleutian Airways in its quest to provide service to St. Mary’s in Western Alaska.

St. Mary’s, on the banks of the Andreafsky River near the confluence with the Yukon River, is a village of about 500 people. It has a gravel runway. Aleutian Airways’ fleet of Saab 2000s, with its “wing-under” configuration, was not suitable to land on gravel. The ATR42 — and the ATR72 — featured a “wing-over” design and is better-suited for St. Mary’s.

There’s another big factor in Aleutian’s growth plan for its next three markets: St. Paul Island, Unalakleet and St. Mary’s.

For the first time in Alaska, Sterling Airways has applied for and was approved for Essential Air Service subsidies to serve these markets.

Aleutian Airways already is flying from Anchorage to Unalakleet three times per week, with fares from $199 one-way.

Scheduled service to St. Paul Island and St. Mary’s does not happen overnight.

Particularly to St. Paul Island, there are extensive modifications necessary for the Saab 2000 to operate over water. Seating is limited to 30 passengers. Once the modifications are complete, the FAA must approve them before revenue flights can begin.

In the meantime, travelers in St. Paul are restricted to one of just eight seats on a Learjet operated by Security Aviation two or three times per week. Aside from that, travelers must hire a private charter.

In St. Mary’s, until the ATR42 is certified to fly there, Ryan Air is operating nonstop flights to Anchorage three times per week.

Aleutian Airways had planned to inaugurate regular scheduled service to all three destinations sooner. But Whilden faults the lengthy government shutdown for the delays.

“People don’t realize how many things were impacted by the shutdown,” he said.

For example, the ATR42 arrived in Anchorage on Jan. 6. But it wasn’t authorized to fly for another two weeks, on Jan. 20.

The Essential Air Service subsidy for St. Paul Island, St. Mary’s and Unalakleet starts at $14.9 million for the first year, increasing to $16.7 million in the fourth year.

Service to these three markets places Sterling Airways and its brands Aleutian Airways and Argentum Airways as the No. 2 recipient of Essential Air Service money in the state.

The No. 1 recipient of EAS money is Alaska Airlines. Alaska receives more than $17 million per year to fly to Adak, Cordova, Yakutat, Wrangell and Petersburg.

The quest to provide safe, reliable passenger transportation is a complex puzzle. Major players include the EAS program, the FAA, meteorologists, operational navigational aids, pilots, crews and well-maintained aircraft.

The equation also includes certificated aviation operators, including Sterling Airways. Sterling and its subsidiaries are “part 121” air carriers, which means they can operate larger aircraft. They also must adhere to more rigorous safety, maintenance and documentation standards, just as Alaska Airlines does.

Sterling’s larger aircraft offer a level of comfort and convenience to Bush travelers that we in Anchorage take for granted. Safe, reliable passenger transportation is essential to connect Alaska’s far-flung communities for work, for commerce and business, for health care and for family connections. But it’s not cheap.