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 April 1, 1968. In August 1, 1973, Wien Consolidated became Wien Air Alaska. The company was famous for being the first airline in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, and one of the first in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It ceased operations on 23 November 1984, at which point it was operating as Wien Airlines.

History

Noel Wien Noel Wien (June 8, 1899July 19, 1977) was an American pioneer aviator. He was the founder of Wien Alaska Airways. Biography Wien was born in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin, but the family moved to a homestead in 1905, to a place now called Cook, Min ...

flew an open-cockpit biplane, a Hisso Standard J1 from

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 ...

, Alaska's "Park Strip" to Fairbanks, Alaska on 6 July 1924 for Alaska Aerial Transportation Company. 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 The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad that operates freight and passenger trains in the state of Alaska. The railroad's mainline runs between Seward, Alaska, Seward on the southern coast and Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, near the center of ...

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. 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 A candle is an ignitable candle wick, wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a Aroma compound, fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. ...

, Deering,

Kotzebue Kotzebue ( ) or Qikiqtaġruk ( , ) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing ...

, and Point Hope. At the end of the summer of 1927, Noel went into business for himself, purchasing a

Stinson Detroiter The Stinson Detroiter was a six-seat cabin airliner for passengers or freight designed and built by the Stinson Aircraft Company, Stinson Aircraft Syndicate, later the ''Stinson Aircraft Corporation''. Two distinct designs used the Detroiter nam ...

he could fly year round, from

Hubert Wilkins Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar (31 October 188830 November 1958), commonly referred to as Captain Wilkins, was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross aft ...

. 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. WE 1967 Logo

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. Noel taught Ralph how to fly in 1924. Ralph was killed on October 12, 1930, while flying a diesel-powered Bellanca Bush plane with Fr. Philip Dolen,

Superior general A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

of Alaskan

Catholic missions Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...

, and Fr. William Walsh, a

diocesan priest In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

from

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, on board. In 1929, Noel, Ralph and Grant Jackson sold Wien Alaska Airways to

Avco Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron, which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...

. 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. Sig received his commercial rating in 1937. Sig managed the Nome Office and flew the North Slope bush flights. Sig Wien, as a bush pilot, flew contracts for

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

geologic exploration activities including geologist

Marvin Mangus Marvin Dale Mangus (1924–2009) was an American geologist and landscape painter. He was giving the honor of driving a purely symbolic wood stake prior to start of drilling the actual oil well by the Atlantic Richfield Corporation, his employer. ...

. 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 Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

for the company into the 1970s. 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 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 ...

, 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, NCA purchased several war surplus

Douglas DC3 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 v ...

s. The front cover of the September 16, 1968 Wien system timetable stated, "Alaska's First Airline with America's Newest Jet the 737". This timetable listed

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

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 A gravel kit is a modification on an aircraft to avoid foreign object debris (FOD) damage or ingestion while operating on unpaved surfaces. Modifications generally include methods of preventing the nose gear spraying FOD into the engine and onto t ...

which enabled operations into remote airfields in Alaska with unpaved runways. On April 1, 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 A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. 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-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 are versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined, turboprop, passenger aircraft formerly manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to ...

Fairchild Hiller FH-227 Fairchild may refer to: Organizations * Fairchild Aerial Surveys, operated in cooperation with a subsidiary of Fairey Aviation Company * Fairchild Camera and Instrument * List of Sherman Fairchild companies, "Fairchild" companies * Fairchild F ...

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 ...

Grumman Mallard The Grumman G-73 Mallard is a medium, twin-engined amphibious aircraft. Many have been modified by replacing the original Pratt & Whitney Wasp, Pratt & Whitney Wasp H radial engines with modern turboprop engines. Manufactured from 1946 to 1951, ...

Pilatus Porter The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a single-engined STOL utility aircraft designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the PC-6 was produced at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans, Switzerland. It has been built in both piston engine- ...

s, and

Short Skyvan The Short SC.7 Skyvan (nicknamed the "Flying Shoebox") is a British 19-seat twin-turboprop aircraft first flown in 1963, that was manufactured by Short Brothers of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Featuring a basic rugged design and STOL capabilities ...

s. Ray stepped down as president in 1976. Expansion came at a price, as Wien was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. Household Finance, controlling owners since 1979, then dumped its investment in the airline and sold the company to Wien's President, Jim J. Flood, in 1983. He shut down the airline, 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 The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The act gradually phase ...

of 1978 made this possible." in an interview with Avweb. 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 , and helped develop the

Combi aircraft 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/fre ...

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 Barrow (now known as Utqiagvik) in the north to dozens of Alaskan communities as well as to cities in the lower 48 states in the western U.S. including

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, (ABQ),

Boise Boise ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and nor ...

(BOI),

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

(DEN), Phoenix (PHX),

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

(OAK),

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

(RNO) and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

(SLC). Their main bases were located in Anchorage and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. According to the

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the United States, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, ...

(OAG), Wien was operating

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

passenger service in conjunction with

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

(Pan Am) with

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airp ...

jetliners in the fall of 1981 between Alaska and destinations in the lower 48 states. The OAG lists these no change of plane through flights to Alaska operating a routing of

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

(MIA) -

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

(MSY) -

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

(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 A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bus ...

") 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.

Timeline

* 1924 – 1926 Northern Air Transport * 1926 – 1935 Wien Airways of Alaska * 1935 – 1968 Wien Alaska Airlines (WE) * 1968 – 1973 Wien Consolidated Airlines (WC) * 1973 – 1984 Wien Air Alaska (WC) * 1982 – 1984 Wien * September 1984- November 1984 Wien Airlines

Destinations

Destinations in 1984

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 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airp ...

and/or

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.departedflights.com, March 2, 1984, Wien Air Alaska system timetable route map. WC 9

* Albuquerque, NM ( ABQ) * Anchorage, AK ( ANC) * Aniak, AK (ANI) * Barrow, AK (BRW) * Bethel, AK (BET) * Boise, ID (BOI) * Cordova, AK (CDV) * Denver, CO (DEN) * Dillingham, AK (DLG) * Fairbanks, AK (FAI) * Galena, AK (GAL) * Homer, AK (HOM) * Juneau, AK (JNU) (Ended February 15, 1982) * Kenai, AK (ENA) (Ended September 11, 1982) * Ketchikan, AK (KTN) (Ended September 13, 1981) * King Salmon, AK (AKN) * Kodiak, AK (ADQ) * Kotzebue, AK (OTZ) * McGrath, AK (MCG) * Nome, AK (OME) * Oakland, CA (OAK) * Phoenix, AZ (PHX) * Portland, OR (PDX) * Prudhoe Bay, AK (PUO) * Reno, NV (RNO) * St. Mary's, AK (KSM) * Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) * Seattle, WA (SEA) * Unalakleet, AK (UNK) * Valdez, AK (VDZ) * 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

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: N9027U 737 United Hybrid 1980

Wien Air Alaska Boeing 737-200 N493WC Marmet

Boeing 727s

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

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

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 Bradley Air Services Limited, operated as First Air, was an airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

, 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 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 ...

and MarkAir.

Incidents and accidents

*December 2, 1968 – Flight 55:

B crashed into Spotsy Lake, Pedro Bay, Alaska; all 39 people on board were killed. *August 30, 1975 – Flight 99: Fairchild F-27B crashed on approach to

Gambell, Alaska Gambell () is a city in the Nome Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located on St. Lawrence Island, it had a population of 640 at the 2020 census, down from 681 in 2010. History ''Sivuqaq'' is the Yupik language name for St. Law ...

; 10 of the 32 passengers and crew on board were killed.

References

Ira B. Harkey Jr. Ira B. Harkey Jr. (January 15, 1918 – October 8, 2006) was an American writer, professor of journalism, and editor and publisher of the ''Pascagoula Chronicle-Star'' in Mississippi from 1951 to 1963. Harkey was awarded the Pulitzer Prize f ...

, ''Noel Wien - Pioneer Alaska Bush Pilot'', and discussions in 2005 with Merrill and Richard Wien, sons of the founder.

Merrill Wien interview, by Joe Godfrey Avweb 2002

''Wien Airlines, a good example of how to bankrupt a company'' by Charlie Dexter, U. of Alaska, Fairbanks *CHAPTER FOUR - The Wien Brothers ''The Last of the Bush Pilots'' (Mass Market Paperback - Bantam Air and Space Series) by Harmon Helmericks, copyright 1969, pages 43 to 58

External links

Wien television commercialsKentWien.com
– Founder's grandson has a few bits of Wien nostalgia on his site

- Wien Air Alaska

- Wien Air Alaska {{Authority control Wien Air Alaska, 1927 establishments in Alaska 1985 disestablishments in Alaska Airlines disestablished in 1985 Airlines established in 1927 Airlines based in Alaska