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Evergreen International Airlines offers “one-carrier” jet freight service Airline bases new DC9 in Anchorage, says it fills missing link in Alaska region large-cargo transport Steve Sutherlin PNA Managing Editor
Executives at Evergreen International Airlines Inc. say shippers in Alaska have a new measure of flexibility in air cargo logistics with Evergreen’s new, Anchorage-based, DC9 cargo plane.
The DC9 33F is a self-contained freighter that requires limited ground support and is capable of taking large loads into airports off the cargo stream.
Shipping to remote areas in Alaska has always involved breaking large shipments down into loads for smaller planes, Evergreen officials told PNA in a recent interview.
Evergreen can haul large freight items to Anchorage using wide-body Boeing 747 freighters and offload to the DC9 for jet-speed transport to the North Slope, the Aleutian Chain, Sakhalin, and other destinations.
Shippers can contract directly with Evergreen to take each load to its destination. The new service saves shippers from having to coordinate with different carriers, which avoids production overtime and wasteful carrier-to-carrier movements, Evergreen officials explained. Service needed Anchorage-based DC9 service is something people have been requesting for many years, Ron Pye, director of sales at Evergreen, told PNA.
With 5,068 cubic feet of useable cargo area, the DC9 lifts a payload of 34,000 pounds. It cruises at 450 mph and has a range of 1,900 statute miles.
The 68.5-foot long cargo bay is accessed through an 86-inch high by 134.5-inch wide door. Eight full and two half pallets can fit into the plane. The full pallets are 88 inches by 108 inches, with a maximum height of 80-inches. Major Anchorage ground handler Evergreen services incoming and outgoing cargo flights for a variety of carriers at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport through its subsidiary, Evergreen Aviation Ground Logistics Enterprises Inc., also known as “Eagle.”
Clients include Asiana Airlines, Gemini Air Cargo, Cathay Pacific Airways, Singapore 1Airlines, Air China, Kitty Hawk Inc., 911 Air Cargo Inc., and the U.S. Postal Service. The company employs 170 workers at its Anchorage load facility to respond when a client’s freight arrives from Houston, or beyond.
Some of the workers have been at the company for a while. Lorin Hixssen, limo driver for the PNA photo shoot, is a retired cargo plane captain. Hixssen said he enjoys working for Evergreen so much that he took the van driver’s job when he retired from flying.
The talent pool runs even deeper at Evergreen International Aviation of McMinnville, Ore. It is the parent company of more than nine subsidiaries including Evergreen International Airlines, Evergreen Helicopters Inc., Quality Aviation Services Inc., Evergreen Aviation Ground Logistics Enterprises, Evergreen Air Center Inc., Evergreen Aircraft Sales & Leasing Co., Evergreen Agricultural Enterprises Inc. and the non-profit Captain Michael King Smith Evergreen Aviation Educational Institute.
Del Smith founded Evergreen International Aviation in 1960 with two helicopters. Today the privately owned company has 4,000 employees worldwide. Smith was the company’s chairman until the recent appointment of Timothy G. Wahlberg as chairman and Joseph R. O’Gorman as president and chief executive officer. Smith has assumed a special role as future strategist for the company.
“This move allows me to concentrate on the big picture and be free of the day-to-day operations,” Smith said in a recent press release.
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