Era Aviation was a fixed wing

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

as well as a commercial helicopter operation based in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

, United States. It operated a network of scheduled fixed wing passenger services from Anchorage as well as from Bethel, AK on behalf of

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried, as of 2024. Alaska, togethe ...

via a

code sharing A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

agreement. Its main base was located at the

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a major airport in the U.S. state of Alaska, located 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 ...

(ANC). Era Aviation has since been renamed Corvus Airlines who currently do business as Ravn Alaska. The company slogan was ''FlySmart. FlyEra.''

History

Era Aviation was established and initiated operations in 1948 when Carl Brady flew the first commercial helicopter to Alaska for contract work supporting a mapping project for the U.S. government. Fixed wing aircraft were then acquired by the company in addition to helicopters with rotorcraft being operated in Alaska, California and Louisiana by the Era Helicopters division. In 1967, Houston-based Rowan Companies, purchased the company from founder Carl Brady. Scheduled fixed wing passenger services began in May 1983. During the summer of 1984, Era was operating scheduled services between Anchorage and Bethel, Kenai and Valdez. The airline formerly operated Convair 580 turboprops as well as

de Havilland Canada De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (DHC) is a Canadian aircraft manufacturer that has produced numerous aircraft models since its inception including the popular De Havilland Canada Dash 8, Dash 8. The company's primary facilities were loca ...

DHC-6 Twin Otter and DHC-7 Dash 7 aircraft and then added DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprops. Most of the airline's scheduled passenger flights were code share feeder services for

. Era used the two-letter "AS" airline code for its flight numbers on these services for Alaska Airlines. Beechcraft 1900C and Beechcraft 1900D turboprops were subsequently added to the fleet. In late 2004, Rowan Companies sold Era Aviation (including the Era Helicopters division which subsequently merged with the Bristow Group, a large, U.S.-based international and domestic commercial helicopter operator, in 2020) to SEACOR Marine (now SEACOR Holdings). Rowan had owned Era Aviation including the Era Helicopters division since 1967 before selling Era to SEACOR. SEACOR in turn had acquired Houston-based Tex-Air Helicopters in 2002 and then merged Tex-Air into Era Helicopters in 2004. SEACOR subsequently sold the Era Aviation fixed wing operation, but retained Era Helicopters. The new owners of the Era Aviation fixed wing operation then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Effective February 27, 2009, Era Aviation, Inc. was bought out and became a subsidiary of The Frontier Alaska Group along with Frontier Flying Service and Hageland Aviation. The combination of the three air carriers resulted in the largest Alaska-based airline in terms of serving more destinations and passengers operated with the largest airplane fleet in the state. The three airlines then operated under the marketing name of Era Alaska/ Frontier Alaska (Hagland Aviation and Frontier Flying Services) which has since changed the marketing name of all the airlines to Ravn Alaska/Ravn Connect brands.

Destinations

Era Aviation operated scheduled passenger services to the following destinations in Alaska and Canada at various times over the years prior to the merger which created Era Alaska. Most flights were operated from its hub located at the Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC) in

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

: * Aniak, Alaska * Barrow, Alaska (via an intermediate stop in Fairbanks) *

Bethel, Alaska Bethel () is a city in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the Kuskokwim River approximately from where the river flows into Kuskokwim Bay. It is the largest community in western Alaska and in the Unorganized Borough and the List of cities in ...

(hub for village service flights) * Cordova, Alaska * Deadhorse, Alaska ( Prudhoe Bay, Alaska) *

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a Municipal home rule, home rule city and the county seat, borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior Alaska, interior region of Alaska and the second la ...

* Galena, Alaska *

Homer, Alaska Homer (Denaʼina language, Dena'ina: ''Tuggeght'') is a City (Alaska), city in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage. According to the 2020 United ...

* Iliamna, Alaska * Kenai, Alaska *

Kodiak, Alaska Kodiak (Alutiiq language, Alutiiq: ) is the main city and one of seven communities on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska. All commercial transportation between the island's communities and the outside ...

* St. Mary's, Alaska *

Unalakleet, Alaska Unalakleet ( ; , or ''Uŋalaqłiit''; Yup'ik: ''Ungalaqliit''; Koyukon: ''Kk'aadoleetno’'') is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States, in the western part of the state. At the 2010 census the population was 765, up from 688 in ...

Valdez, Alaska Valdez ( ; Alutiiq language, Alutiiq: ) is a city in the Chugach Census Area, Alaska, Chugach Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. In 2020, the population of Valdez was 3,985, up slightly from 3,976 in 2010. It is the List of cities in Alask ...

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

, Yukon, Canada - ''only international route flown by Era'' In addition, Ravn Alaska offers scheduled service to more than 100 communities statewide.

Fleet

The Corvus fleet included the following aircraft (upon merger): * 3 Beechcraft 1900D * 10 Bombardier Dash 8 Q100 Era Aviation previously operated Convair 580 turboprop aircraft as well as

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking ...

and DHC-7 Dash 7 turboprop aircraft. The Twin Otter and Dash 7 are short takeoff and landing (

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

) aircraft. The company also operated a Lear 35 business jet; however, this aircraft was not used in scheduled passenger airline operations but instead for aeromedical air ambulance services. A flight seeing air tour service with

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

aircraft was also operated from Anchorage as Era Classic Airlines.

Buyout, divestiture and bankruptcy

Era Aviation was owned by Rowan Companies from 1967 until late 2004. On Jan. 4, 2005, Rowan announced the sale of Era to SEACOR Marine (now SEACOR Holdings) effective on Dec. 30, 2004 for $118.1 million in cash. Six months later, ownership of Era Aviation changed hands again with SEACOR retaining ownership of Era Helicopters, formerly a division of Era Aviation. Era Helicopters then merged with the Bristow Group, a large commercial helicopter operator, in 2020. Approximately six months later, the new ownership of Era Aviation filed for Chapter 11

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in late 2005. In 2009 the company was acquired by rival Frontier Alaska Group with the Frontier Flying Service Part 121 mainline operation being engaged in the process of being merged into Era Aviation's operating certificate. In 2010, Era Alaska was formed using the assets of Frontier Alaska Group, Frontier Flying Service, Era Aviation, and Hageland Aviation. In 2014, Era's parent company changed its name to Corvus Airlines d/b/a Ravn Alaska.

References

External links