Wien Air Alaska (IATA: WC) was a United States airline that was the result of a merger of Northern Consolidated Airlines(NCA) and Wien Alaska Airways (WE). It initially used the name Wien Consolidated Airlines (WC) following the merger in July 17, 1968.[1] In August 1, 1973, Wien Consolidated became Wien Air Alaska. The company was famous for being the first airline in Alaska, and one of the first in the United States. It ceased operations on 23 November 1984, at which point it was operating as Wien Airlines.[2]
In 1925, Wien purchased a Fokker F.III monoplane with a cabin built in 1921 in Amsterdam for the Fairbanks Airplane Company, and it was shipped to Seward, Alaska, by boat, then shipped in pieces via the Alaska Railroad to Fairbanks. Ralph Wien, Noel's brother, came with him, to work as a mechanic. They assembled the Fokker F.III Monoplane in Fairbanks. Yet, Noel and Ralph quit the company in Nov. 1925.[3]:123–126
Noel and Ralph Wien went into partnership with Gene Miller, and purchased a very used Hisso Standard from the Fairbanks Airplane Co. in 1927. In June they established their business in Nome, servicing Candle, Deering, Kotzebue, and Point Hope. At the end of the summer of 1927, Noel went into business for himself, purchasing a Stinson Detroiter he could fly year round, from Hubert Wilkins. Noel, and his Wien Alaska Airways, started a regular weekly round trip flight between Fairbanks and Nome. Noel also secured special air mail flights during the spring and fall breakup.[3]:183,194,199,212–216[4]
Wien Alaska Airlines Logo prior to 1968 Merger with NCA. Wien's IATA code was WE before the Merger when it changed to WC when West Coast Airlines merged in 1968 to become AirWest. Wien Alaska Airlines began the jet age in 1968 when they merged with Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA) to become Wien Consolidated Airlines (1968-73).In August 1973, Wien Consolidated became Wien Air Alaska. (1973-81).Wien updated their logo in May 1981 to September 1984. "In Alaska, the blue of the Arctic twilight meets the Gold of the Yukon, trimmed and bordered in Snow White, simply to state Wien Air Alaska."Logo from September - November 1984.Wien stewardess dressed for the Arctic, Point Barrow, 1950
On 20 Oct. 1928, Wien Alaska Airways, Inc. was incorporated with Noel as president, Ralph as vice-president, and Miners and Merchants Bank president Granville (Grant) R. Jackson as secretary. The new company built a hangar at Weeks Field and promptly ordered a Hamilton Metalplane.[3]:255–256[4]:55–58
In 1929, Noel, Ralph and Grant Jackson sold Wien Alaska Airways to Avco. Noel's company plus Anchorage Air Transport and Bennett-Rodebaugh Company were merged into a new company called Alaskan Airways Inc. Noel flew for Alaskan Airways from Feb. 1931 until Jan. 1932. In Aug. 1932, once his non-compete clause ended, Noel restarted Wien Airways of Alaska, Inc. Northern Air Transport of Nome merged with Wien in 1936. In 1936, Wien had the first air-to-ground radio links in Alaska, and by 1937, Noel had 3 other pilots flying Wien's 8 aircraft, and 3 other mechanics worked with Sigurd Wien, his brother, while 3 people administered their offices in Fairbanks and Nome.[3]:288–291,294,303–305[4]:128–129,244–245
Sig received his commercial rating in 1937.[3]:334 Sig managed the Nome Office and flew the North Slope bush flights. Sig Wien, as a bush pilot, flew contracts for USGS geologic exploration activities including geologist Marvin Mangus.
Noel Wien was forced to sell his shares to Sig in 1940, so Noel could pay for his wife's medical care. He returned as a vice-president and continued to fly for the airline into the 1950s. Noel then worked public relations for the company into the 1970s.[3]:336,340
Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA) was formed on 8 May 1947 with Ray Petersen as president. The company was an amalgamation of Ray Petersen Flying Service, Northern Airways, Walatka Air Service, and Northern Air Service. Ray Petersen had started Ray Petersen Flying Service in 1937, based in Bethel, Alaska, supporting the platinum mining operations in Platinum, Alaska. In 1941, Ray moved his headquarters to Anchorage, and in 1943, he purchased Bristol Bay Air Service and Jim Dodson Air Service. After WWII, NCA purchased several war surplus Douglas DC3s.[7]
The front cover of the September 16, 1968 Wien system timetable stated, "Alaska's First Airline with America's Newest Jet the 737".[8] This timetable listed Boeing 737-200 jet service being operated on the following routes: Anchorage-Fairbanks, Anchorage-King Salmon, Fairbanks-Barrow and Fairbanks-Galena-Nome-Fairbanks with the latter being a "triangle" routing. On December 6 of the same year it received the first 737 certified by Boeing with the gravel kit which enabled operations into remote airfields in Alaska with unpaved runways.
Also in 1968, Wien merged with Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA). Sig was named chairman, Ray Petersen president, and Noel and Fritz board members. The new company was called Wien Consolidated Airlines until August 1, 1973, when the company name became Wien Air Alaska. Sig retired and Ray assumed the roles of chairman, president and CEO. By then the airline had more than 800 employees and five Boeing 737-200 jets as well as various turboprop and prop aircraft including Fairchild F-27s, Fairchild Hiller FH-227s, de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters, Grumman Mallards, Pilatus Porters, and Short Skyvans. Ray stepped down as president in 1976.[3]:319[3]:341[7]:188–189[9]
Expansion came at a price, as Wien was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. Household Finance, controlling owners since 1979,[10] then dumped its investment in the airline and sold the company to Wien's President, Jim J. Flood, in 1983.[11][12] He shut down the airline,[13] and on November 23, 1984, Wien was liquidated for profit. Noel's son, Merrill, said the end of his family's airline came when it "was bought by a corporate raider on a leveraged buyout and was liquidated for about twice what the stock was selling for. The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 made this possible." in an interview with Avweb.[2]
Before Wien Air folded in 1985, they were known as the second-oldest airline in the United States.
The company pioneered jet service to gravel runways [citation needed], and helped develop the Boeing 737-200Combi aircraft configuration which allowed mixed freight and passenger loads on the main deck of the aircraft. By the spring of 1984, the Wien route network extended from Point Barrow in north to dozens of Alaskan communities as well as to cities in the lower 48 states in the western U.S. including Albuquerque, (ABQ), Boise (BOI), Denver (DEN), Phoenix (PHX), Oakland (OAK), Reno (RNO) and Salt Lake City (SLC).[14] Their main bases were located in Anchorage and Seattle.
According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), Wien was operating interchange passenger service in conjunction with Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) with Boeing 727-100 jetliners in the fall of 1981 between Alaska and destinations in the lower 48 states.[15] The OAG lists these no change of plane through flights to Alaska operating a routing of Miami (MIA) - New Orleans (MSY) - Houston (IAH) - Seattle (SEA) - Anchorage (ANC) and from Alaska on a routing of Anchorage - Seattle - Houston - New Orleans with Wien flight crews operating the service between Anchorage and Seattle and Pan Am flight crews operating the Houston, New Orleans and Miami service with Seattle being the interchange point (also known as a "transport hub") between the two airlines.
Noel Wien's sons flew in an open cockpit biplane from Anchorage's 'Park Strip' to Fairbanks on the 75th anniversary of their father's flight. The municipality of Anchorage and the FAA allowed the plane to take off from the grass park, which was used as a runway in 1924.[16]
By March 1984, Wien Air Alaska had expanded its scheduled passenger flights into the western U.S. in addition to continuing to serve many destinations in Alaska. All of the cities in the lower 48 states were served with Boeing 727-200 and/or Boeing 737-200 jetliners at this time. Some smaller destinations in Alaska were served with commuter turboprop aircraft. The following destination information is taken from the March 2, 1984, Wien Air Alaska system timetable route map.[23]
Wien Air Alaska September 1977 Route Map.Wien Air Alaska August 1979 Route Map with new Kenai-Seattle Non-Stop Service.Wien Air Alaska Route Map, September 1981Wien Air Alaska Route Map at the height of their expansion, March 1984
Whitehorse, YT, Canada (YXY) (Ended September 13, 1981)
Wien previously served Kenai (ENA), Juneau (JNU) and Ketchikan (KTN) in Alaska as well as Whitehorse (YXY) in the Yukon Territory of Canada with Boeing 727-100 & Boeing 737-200 jet aircraft.
By September 1981, Wien dropped service to Ketchikan (KTN) & Whitehorse, Yukon (YXY). By February 1982, Wien stopped serving Juneau (JNU) and by September 1982, Wien stopped serving Kenai (ENA).
Fleet
Throughout its existence, Wien Air Alaska has operated many types of aircraft, with the majority of its fleet being propeller-driven. This is a complete list of all aircraft types ever operated by the airline:
Wien 737 United Hybrid June 1980 in Seattle.Boeing 737-200 N493WC Combi in 1983Wien Air Alaska Boeing 727-100 N40481 Leased from Continental in 1984Wien Air Alaska Boeing 727-100 N40487 Leased from Continental in 1984A Wien Air Alaska Boeing 727-200, N275WC Leased from Ansett Australia in December 1983Iñupiat people at Barrow Airport, in front of a Wien Alaska Airlines Constellation N7777G, circa 1966.A Wien Alaska Airlines Cessna 170 met by a M29C weasel at Oliktok Point, Alaska (North Slope), Summer 1951
(Models: F-27A & F-27B) Mixed passenger/freighter Combi aircraft variant with large cargo door ordered by Wien, some ex-Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA) received
Wien Air Alaska had purchased several Boeing 727-100 Combis in 1981 to provide extra capacity for its routes, which by then extended well into the lower 48 states. At the end of 1983, about a year before it folded, it acquired three of Ansett Australia's oldest 727-200s. By the end of 1984, the president of Wien Air Alaska, Jim J. Flood, attempted to restructure the company as Wien Airlines, which was shown on the September 1984 timetable. The three Australian 727-200s were leased, at that time, to Republic Airlines (and later to the resurrected Braniff Airways after Republic's merger with Northwest Orient in 1986). In the event Wien Airlines did not emerge as a passenger service and was probably a "paper company" merely to handle the leases of the former Wien Air Alaska fleet. Wien Air Alaska ceased to function as an airline on, 23 November 1984 after 60 years of flying. On November 28, 1984 Wien Air Alaska began bankruptcy proceedings and finally folded on October 25, 1985.
Boeing 737-200s
From left, airline president Ray Peterson, Noel Wien, Fritz Wien and Sig Wien as the airline takes delivery of a Boeing 737-200 C on April 12, 1974.
In 1968 Wien merged with Northern Consolidated Airlines (NCA) and became known as Wien Consolidated Airlines until August 1, 1973 when the company name was changed to Wien Air Alaska.
Wien was the launch customer for the Boeing 737-200Combi aircraft passenger/freighter, and one of the first U.S. operators to commence operations in May 1968 with aircraft N461GB. These aircraft were equipped with a large cargo door on the side of the fuselage just aft of the flight deck near the nose of the 737.
The company pioneered jet service to gravel runways, and helped develop the Boeing 737-200 Combi aircraft configuration which allowed mixed freight and passenger loads on the main deck of the aircraft.
One former Wien aircraft (N4952W) was later acquired by First Air, an Arctic Northern Canadian airline, which then crashed operating as First Air Flight 6560 (C-GNWN) at Resolute Airport in the high Arctic region of Canada. Other primary users of the Boeing 737-200 Combi version in Alaska were Alaska Airlines and MarkAir.
Alaska Airlines is a major airline in the United States headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried. Alaska, together with its regional partners Horizon Air and SkyWest Airlines operates a route network primarily focused on connecting cities along the West Coast of the United States to over 100 destinations in the contiguous United States, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a major airport in the U.S. state of Alaska, located 5 miles (8 km) southwest of downtown Anchorage. The airport is named for Ted Stevens, who served as a senator of Alaska from 1968 to 2009. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a medium-hub primary commercial service facility.
Reeve Aleutian Airways was an airline headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It ceased operations on December 5, 2000.
Frontier Flying Service was an American airline headquartered in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. It operated an extensive network of year-round scheduled commuter services and postal services to Alaska bush communities, primarily north of Fairbanks, as well as charter services to the lower 48 and Canada.
Deadhorse Airport is a public airport located in Deadhorse on the North Slope of Alaska. It can be accessed from Fairbanks via the Elliott and Dalton highways. It is near Prudhoe Bay and is sometimes also called Prudhoe Airport.
Combi aircraft in commercial aviation are aircraft that can be used to carry either passengers as an airliner, or cargo as a freighter, and may have a partition in the aircraft cabin to allow both uses at the same time in a mixed passenger/freight combination. The name combi comes from the word combination. The concept originated in railroading with the combine car, a passenger car that contains a separate compartment for mail or baggage.
Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport is an airport of entry located in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. It is part of the National Airports System, and is owned and operated by the Government of Yukon. The airport was renamed in honour of longtime Yukon Member of Parliament Erik Nielsen on December 15, 2008. The terminal handled 294,000 passengers in 2012, representing a 94% increase in passenger traffic since 2002. By 2017, this number had risen to 366,000. Air North is based in Whitehorse.
Juneau International Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport and seaplane base located seven nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Juneau, a city and borough in the U.S. state of Alaska that has no direct road access to the outside world. The airport serves as a regional hub for all air travel, from bush carriers to major U.S. air carriers such as Alaska Airlines.
Ketchikan International Airport is a state-owned, public-use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) west of the central business district of Ketchikan, a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in Alaska, that has no direct road access to the outside world or to the airport. The airport is located on Gravina Island, just west of Ketchikan on the other side of the Tongass Narrows. Passengers must take a seven-minute ferry ride across the water to get to the airport from the town.
Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport is a state-owned, public-use airport located west of the central business district of Sitka, a city and borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.
Adak Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located west of Adak, on Adak Island in the Aleutian Islands in the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is the farthest western airfield with scheduled passenger air service in the entire United States at 176.64W.
MarkAir was a regional airline based in Anchorage, Alaska, that became a national air carrier operating passenger jet service in the United States with a hub and corporate headquarters located in Denver, Colorado. After a second bankruptcy in 1995, it ceased operations in October and was later liquidated.
Kodiak Benny Benson State Airport is a public and military use airport located four nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Kodiak, a city on Kodiak Island in the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is state-owned and operated by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF). It is home to the co-located Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak and a hub for Servant Air. On April 11, 2013, the Alaska State Legislature passed SB31, which renamed the facility "Kodiak Benny Benson State Airport," in honor of the designer of the Alaskan flag.
Noel Wien was an American pioneer aviator. He was the founder of Wien Alaska Airways.
Kenai Municipal Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located in Kenai, a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska.
Homer Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) east of the central business district of Homer, a town in the Kenai Peninsula Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska.
Northern Air Cargo, LLC (NAC) is an American cargo airline based in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. NAC operates a small fleet of Boeing 737-300, Boeing 737-400 and Boeing 737-800 freighter aircraft within the state of Alaska as well as widebody Boeing 767-300 freighter services throughout the Caribbean and South America. Other services include aircraft maintenance services through its subsidiary, Northern Air Maintenance Services, on demand charters and consolidation of cargo. With a main base at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, NAC also operates out of a hub at Miami International Airport. NAC is a division of Saltchuk which is the corporate parent of a number of transportation and distribution companies including Aloha Air Cargo, a cargo airline based in Hawaii.
Star Air Service, later Star Air Lines and Alaska Star Airlines was an American air service in Alaska from 1932 to 1944. With financial help from a wealthy Alaska miner, three pilots who had started a flying school and charter business in Seattle, shipped an open-cockpit biplane by steamship to Alaska in March 1932. Star Air Service was incorporated in April, 1932 in Anchorage with capitalization of $4,000. The company had some early success training student pilots, but their airplane was destroyed in a crash. Their financial backer helped them purchase a larger plane with an enclosed cabin which supported winter operations.
Woodley Airways was an air carrier based in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. The airline was founded in 1932 by Arthur G. "Art" Woodley who passed away on May 30, 1990 at the age of 84 following a long and colorful career in aviation.
↑ Llorente, Segundo (1990) [1988]. Memoirs of an Alaskan Priest(PDF). Washington, D.C.: New Directions Publishing & Georgetown University Press. p.60. ISBN0-87840-494- 5. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
