| |||||||
Commenced operations | October 3, 1979 | ||||||
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AOC # | FXTA050A [1] | ||||||
Hubs | |||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Gold Points | ||||||
Subsidiaries | Twin Peak Adventures | ||||||
Fleet size | 27 [2] | ||||||
Destinations | 32 [3] | ||||||
Headquarters | Nome, Alaska, U.S. | ||||||
Key people | James Rowe (President and CEO) | ||||||
Employees | 115 [4] | ||||||
Website | www |
Bering Air is an American airline headquartered in Nome, Alaska, United States. It operates domestic scheduled passenger and charter airline services, as well as air ambulance and helicopter services. Its main base is Nome Airport, with hubs at Ralph Wien Memorial Airport (Kotzebue) and Unalakleet Airport. [4]
In early 1975, Jim Rowe and three college friends embarked on a journey from northern Michigan, and traveled across America in a Cessna 195, landing in Mexico's Baja California peninsula, and eventually settling on the beaches of Nome, Alaska. A few years later, in September 1979, Bering Air was established. It commenced operations on October 3, 1979, with a single De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter. Later, in 1983, with instigation of the increasingly popular bypass mail system, the airline added other small aircraft, including the Piper Navajo, Beech 18, and Piper Seneca. Bering Air, in favor of modern, turbine powered aircraft, later phased out aircraft equipped with radial engines. Thus, the Beechcraft King Air 200, Beechcraft 1900D, Cessna Caravan, and CASA C-212 were introduced. Furthermore, off airport duties were transferred to helicopters, instead of older piston powered aircraft. In 2015, the airline upgraded its fleet with eight Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan aircraft replacing its older Cessna 208B aircraft. [5] Today, the airline is wholly owned by Jim Rowe (President) and Christine Rowe.
In July 2020 Bering Air bought at Ravn Alaska's bankruptcy auction the facilities in Aniak, Kotzebue, Nome and Unalakleet. [6]
As of November 2023, the Bering Air fleet consists of the following aircraft: [2]
Aircraft | Total | Passengers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Piper PA-31 Navajo | 4 | 9 | |
Cessna Caravan EX | 18 | 9 | |
Cessna 408 SkyCourier | 2 | 0 | Cargo [7] |
Beechcraft 1900D | 4 | 19 | "Combi" configuration on scheduled flights |
Beechcraft King Air 200 | 4 | 9 | Air ambulance configuration |
CASA 212-200 | 2 | 0 | Cargo |
MD Helicopter MD 500E | 3 | 3 AS 350B3 2 | Long Line capable UH-1H Huey 2 |
Robinson R44 Raven II | 3 | 3 | Also operates two R44s for Twin Peak Adventures. [8] |
Bering Air has previously operated the following aircraft:
Aircraft | Replacement |
---|---|
De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter | Cessna 208B Caravan |
De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver | |
Cessna 206/207 | |
Cessna 208B Caravan | Cessna Caravan EX |
Beechcraft 18 | CASA C-212 |
Piper Seneca | |
Mitsubishi MU-2 | |
Piper PA-31 Navajo |
Bering Air, along with Grant Aviation, Frontier Flying Service, Northern Air Cargo, PenAir, and Ryan Air Services, participates in the Flying Can service, which allows rural Alaskan communities to recycle aluminum cans and now number 1 PET bottles in cooperation with Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling. [9]
Bering Air provides free delivery on scheduled flights for Airport Pizza, a pizzeria at Nome Airport that takes orders from remote locations served by Bering Air. [10]
Passenger and cargo charter services are flown from Kotzebue and Nome to destinations throughout the United States, and Russia. [4]
Bering Air offers scheduled passenger service to 29 cities in Western Alaska from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. [3] [11] [12] [13]
Bering Air offered charter service from Nome and Anchorage to Anadyr and Provideniya in the Russian Far East. [14] This service is currently suspended. [15]
Nome Census Area is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska, mostly overlapping with the Seward Peninsula. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,046, up from 9,492 in 2010. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest community by far is the city of Nome.
Northwest Arctic Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,793, up from 7,523 in 2010. The borough seat is Kotzebue. The borough was formed on June 2, 1986.
The Inupiat are a group of Alaska Natives whose traditional territory roughly spans northeast from Norton Sound on the Bering Sea to the northernmost part of the Canada–United States border. Their current communities include 34 villages across Iñupiat Nunaat, including seven Alaskan villages in the North Slope Borough, affiliated with the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation; eleven villages in Northwest Arctic Borough; and sixteen villages affiliated with the Bering Straits Regional Corporation. They often claim to be the first people of the Kauwerak.
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.
Bering Strait School District (BSSD) is a school district in northwestern Alaska, United States, serving approximately 1,700 students in grades K-12 in fifteen isolated villages. All schools in the district serve students of all ages, and most classrooms are multi-age.
The Nome Nugget is a weekly newspaper published on Thursdays in Nome, Alaska, United States and serves the entire Northwest region of Alaska. Additionally, it is printed in Anchorage, Alaska for newsstands and airports. It was awarded best weekly newspaper in all of Alaska in 2012, 2021 and 2022 by the Alaska Press Club, and the Nugget's reporters have won dozens of awards and accolades for their work in recent years. It is an independent newspaper which is currently owned by the Nugget Publishing Corp., owned by Diana Haecker and Nils Hahn. The Nome Nugget is Alaska's oldest newspaper.
Northern Air Cargo, LLC (NAC) is an American cargo airline based in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. 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.
Maniiḷaq is a figure of Iñupiat legend and history. He lived in the 19th century before colonialists arrived in his area of northwest Alaska. He lived as a hunter and a healer in northwest Alaska. Various stories about him include that he heard voices predicting that people would come to Alaska, that he had prophetic visions of boats that were propelled by fire or that flew in the air, and that he heard voices from a higher power who he said identified as abba. Some also say that Maniiḷaq rested every seventh day. Other prophecies attributed to Maniiḷaq include the prophecy that the village of Ambler, Alaska would one day become a large metropolis, and that a whale would swim upriver and appear at Ambler. It is said that Maniiḷaq practiced traditional medicine, and also that he resisted the dominant cultural order of shamanism. He is an important figure in Northwest Alaska Christian communities. The most distant future event he predicted was a day that was split in two, which is probably a reference to the Solar eclipse of July 1, 2057.
Hageland Aviation Services was a regional FAR Part 135 airline based in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It operated as the Ravn Connect component of Ravn Alaska, serving many destinations throughout Alaska.
Koyuk Alfred Adams Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located in Koyuk, a city in the Nome Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska.
Shishmaref Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.85 km) south of the central business district of Shishmaref, a village in the Nome Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has one asphalt paved runway designated 5/23 and measuring 5,000 x 70 ft.. Shishmaref is located on Sarichef Island in the Chukchi Sea, just north of the Bering Strait and five miles from the mainland.
Shaktoolik Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.8 km) northwest of the central business district of Shaktoolik, a city in the Nome Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska.
Everts Air is an American airline based in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. It operates scheduled and charter airline cargo as well as passenger services within Alaska and Canada. Its main base is Fairbanks International Airport with its major hub at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The company slogan is Legendary Aircraft. Extraordinary Service.
Everts Air Cargo is an American Part 121 airline based in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. It operates D.O.D, scheduled and charter airline cargo within Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the continental United States. Its maintenance base is Fairbanks International Airport with its major cargo hub at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The company slogan is Legendary Aircraft. Extraordinary Service.
Ryan Air, Inc., is an American airline that serves over 70 villages in Bush Alaska out of hubs in Anchorage, Aniak, Bethel, Emmonak, Kotzebue, Nome, St. Mary's, and Unalakleet. Offering primarily cargo services, Ryan Air also operates scheduled passenger service out of Aniak, and passenger or cargo charters throughout Alaska.
Wien Air Alaska Flight 99 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight in Alaska to St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. On approach to Gambell on 30 August 1975, it crashed into Sevuokuk Mountain, east of the airport's runway. Of the 32 on board, ten were killed, including the captain and first officer. The Fairchild F-27B aircraft was operated by Wien Air Alaska.
Northwest Arctic Borough School District (NWABSD) is a school district headquartered in Kotzebue, Alaska.