McKay president at Northwestern Arctic Air

Steve Sutherlin

Dave McKay has been named president of Northwestern Arctic Air Inc., the company said Nov. 1. Northwestern provides charter services and operates a fleet of Gulfstream, Hawker, Learjet and King Air aircraft from its base at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The company was recently authorized to fly for Phillips Alaska Inc. and BP Exploration (Alaska), McKay told PNA Nov. 7.

The company can fly its 16-passenger Gulfstream jet to Sakhalin from Anchorage non-stop in seven hours, and has made a number of flights to the island for oil companies and oil service companies, McKay said. Northwestern has a Hawker business jet stationed in Moscow, and has considerable experience operating in Russia and the Far East, he said. Most of its flights in that region are medi-vacs; in fact, the company is the fixed-wing provider of medi-vac flights for the Providence Alaska Medical Center Lifeguard program.

With 27 jets available at bases nationwide, the company can match the range and payload to the needs of the mission for greater speed and efficiency, McKay said.

The company is a subsidiary of Northwestern Aircraft Capital Corp., but it is based, and its operating certificate originated in Anchorage, McKay said, adding, “Our headquarters is in Anchorage and our director of maintenance is here.”

Because Anchorage is such a strategic location, most of the company’s flights in the Pacific Rim land in Anchorage for fuel and customs. Oftentimes with advance notice the firm can hold a specialized plane passing through for an Anchorage-originating flight to eliminate the cost of positioning the aircraft from another base.

McKay was previously Northwestern’s executive vice president; he worked for Era Aviation Inc. in the 1970s and 1980s.