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Era Aviation has 50 year history in Alaska Era provides air support for remote construction sites, longline sling operations, fuel hauls, equipment transport, seismic exploration, remote communications installation, and more Randy Brutsche PNA Technical Writer
If there is one thing that has driven Era Aviation Inc. in its 50-plus history, it is the burning desire to be the one company that set the standard while it provided safe, responsive and cost-effective helicopter and fixed-wing support to its customers.
Era pilots have accumulated more than 2.5 million hours of diversified flight time. The company now has 98 helicopters and 23 airplanes in operation from three domestic locations with gross revenues of $87 million.
Era’s corporate headquarters are located in Anchorage. The facility is made up of five buildings that total some 130,000 square feet and is surrounded by 14 acres of aircraft ramp space.
The largest building houses Era’s corporate headquarters staff as well as Era’s regional, scheduled airline operations and reservations and its fixed-base operations, fixed-wing maintenance and avionics instrument shops.
It is Era’s fixed-base operations, or FBO, that exemplify the company’s mindset of setting the standard. Second only to Alaska Airlines Era’s Alaska division has bases in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Prudhoe Bay, Deadhorse and Valdez. Era’s scheduled regional airline fleet is made up of five Convair 580s with 50 seats; three de Havilland Dash 8s with 37 seats and nine de Havilland Twin-Otters with either 15 or 18 seats.
Its scheduled flights offer comfort, capability, convenience and impeccable service. Its team of professionals provides the highest level of passenger satisfaction resulting from ongoing staff training that exceeds standards set by the FAA.
Era also provides an important and dependable air cargo link throughout the state.
Kip Knudson, director of marketing for Era, said the company is the second largest airline operating out of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, after Alaska Airlines and ahead of United, Northwest and Delta. Era ranks as one of the top 25 regional carriers in the United States.
Knudson said the airline now flies about 500,000 passengers a year and just flew its 4 millionth passenger last spring.
Era’s scheduled service provides access to Bethel, Cordova, Homer, Illiamna, Kenai, Kodiak, Seward and Valdez, with an international route to Whitehorse, Yukon, in the summertime. Era’s regional hub in Bethel serves 17 villages with airline service. Dedicated medical flight services Era Aviation Air Medical Services was developed to serve medical transportation needs in Alaska. Aircraft are dedicated to air ambulance service where few medical facilities are available amid Alaska’s 586,000 square miles of rugged terrain. The company has transported acutely ill and seriously injured patients in Alaska, in the lower 48 states and in foreign countries.
Era’s medical operations are based on a philosophy of expedient patient care in planes selected to serve specific needs, taking into consideration projected flight times, regional landing options and local weather conditions.
Era Aviation Air Medical Services has the experience and skills to provide fixed-wing and rotary-wing support for any medical facility. Pilots are specialists in providing safe, responsive transportation under the most demanding circumstances, Era says.
The company offers a cost-effective alternative to hospital-owned aircraft or small aviation operators.
If necessary, as in the case of medivac contracts, planes can be retrofitted with specialized equipment. Retrofit options include a direct communications link between the caregiver and a physician stationed at the hospital emergency room, as well as a variety of stretcher and “isolette” configurations to provide secure restraint while in flight.
Era can also provide all equipment necessary for in-flight care of maternity, neonatal, trauma and cardiac medical patients. A broad spectrum of services Era provides contracted flight services across a broad spectrum of tasks and environments to provide air support. They include:
• crew transport
• construction support
• longline sling operations
• fuel hauls
• equipment transport
• concrete pouring and pole setting
• seismic exploration
• geophysical and geotechnical flights
• remote communications installation
support
• forest fire suppression
• fish processing
• fish and wildlife surveys over land
and sea
Service, service and more service
Aside from establishing benchmark standards nearly everywhere Era conducts business, it is just as well known for its top-flight service at every phase of its operations.
Era’s customer service representatives can arrange for ground transportation, make hotel and restaurant reservations, assist with customs and immigration services and coordinate fully equipped meeting rooms.
They have even been known to track down, purchase and deliver a unique Alaska gift upon request.
When push comes to shove, Era will do whatever it takes to provide its corporate, government and tourism clients with top-notch service at an economical price.
Editor’s Note: This is an abbreviated version of a story about Era Aviation that appears in PNA’s special publication, “Partners in Development.”
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