Frontier Flying Service

Frontier Flying Service (d/b/a Ravn Connect) was an American airline headquartered in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States.[1] 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.

This article is about the Alaska-based airline. For the Denver-based airline, see Frontier Airlines.
IATA ICAO Callsign
2F FTA FRONTIER-AIR
Founded1950
Ceased operations2014
HubsFairbanks International Airport
Secondary hubs
Frequent-flyer programYES
Fleet size7
Parent companyEra Alaska
HeadquartersFairbanks, Alaska, USA
Websitewww.frontierflying.com (archived)

Its main base was in Fairbanks (Fairbanks International Airport), with hubs in Utqiagvik (Wiley Post–Will Rogers Memorial Airport), Anchorage (Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport), Kotzebue (Ralph Wien Memorial Airport) and Bethel (Bethel Airport).

History

Frontier Flying Service was established in 1950 by retired Air Force Colonel Richard McIntyre, catering to Alaska bush communities as a scheduled mail carrier for Wien Air Alaska, as well as providing charters throughout Alaska. In 1974, Frontier was purchased by John Hajdukovich.

In 2005 the airline merged with Cape Smythe Air Services, taking on their routes and retaining the Frontier Flying Service name.[2]

During the spring of 2008 Frontier Flying Service began the process of merging with Hageland Aviation Services, the companies continue to operate separate certificates with Frontier Flying Service providing service between major hubs and focus communities with the Beech 1900C aircraft while Hagleand Air Service provides point to point service out of the hubs and focus communities to smaller villages, both companies do business under the name "Frontier Alaska" and have begun merging resources and operations at all their shared airports. This merger makes Frontier Alaska the largest commuter passenger carrier in the state of Alaska (by fleet size and number of routes).

On July 8, 2008, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines announced Frontier Flying Service (d.b.a Frontier Alaska) as a new code share partner beginning in the fall of 2008.

On February 27, 2009, Frontier Flying Service's holding company, Frontier Alaska, acquired rival Era Aviation of Anchorage, Alaska.[3]

By 2014, with the fleet rationalization and post acquisition of Era Aviation almost complete by the HoTH Airline group, Frontier Flying Service performed the mission of flying cargo and passenger charters for the other Ravn branded companies, Corvus Airlines and Hageland Aviation, but also utilizing the branding of Ravn Connect.

After the bankruptcy of Ravn Alaska the assets were sold "in pieces" to other airlines of Alaska in July 2020.[4]

Fleet

The Frontier Flying Service fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of 2011):[5]

TypeNumber
Piper PA-31-3502
Raytheon Beech BE-1900-C3
Shorts SD3-302

Destinations

Frontier Flying Service operated scheduled service to the following destinations in Alaska as of 2007:[6]

Community awareness

Frontier Flying Service, along with Bering Air, Grant Aviation, Northern Air Cargo, PenAir, and Ryan Air, participated in the Flying Can service, which allows rural Alaskan communities to recycle aluminum cans and PET bottles in cooperation with Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling.[7]

Accidents and incidents

See also

References
  1. "Contact Frontier Flying Service, Inc. Archived 2008-11-01 at the Wayback Machine" Frontier Flying Service. Retrieved on July 16, 2009.
  2. "Frontier Flying merges with Cape Smythe As of Monday May 5th 2008, Frontier Flying Service merged with Hageland Aviation and is now known as Frontier Alaska". Alaska Business Monthly. 2005-10-01. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  3. Rivals to acquire Era Aviation Anchorage Daily News February 17th, 2009
  4. "Southern California company will take over some RavnAir service after bankruptcy auction". adn.com. 2020-07-10.
  5. FAA Airline Certificate Information: FRONTIER FLYING SERVICE INC. Retrieved on 2011-06-22.
  6. Frontier Flying Service: 2007 Timetable Archived July 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
  7. Tuttle, Logan (16 June 2010). "Rural recycling finds a PET project". The Arctic Sounder. Alaska Newspapers, Inc. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  8. "N99663 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  9. "NTSB Identification: ANC80FA008". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
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