Northern Flights: Alaska offers options to professional pilots

Time building is an unavoidable part of pilot career development.

Traditional pursuits involve flight instructing, banner towing, and late-night freight hauling, but for pilots with perhaps a slightly more adventurous streak, time-building options exist as far north as the great state of Alaska. While it’s difficult to establish an exact hiring total because of the number of small “Mom and Pop” operations scattered throughout the state, Tom Wardleigh of the Alaska Aviation Safety Foundation estimates there are more than 200 entry-level pilot positions available each year in the state.

“Bush flying” is a catchall phrase used to describe Alaskan flying conditions. An extremely harsh climate, ice or water landings using skis or floats, and difficult approaches to remote areas are just some of the common occurrences that set flying in Alaska apart from operating in the “Lower 48,” as Alaskans often refer to the continental United States.

Navigation used to be a major challenge in Alaska, but advances such as GPS and developments from the new Capstone research project are making bush flying much safer than it used to be. The Capstone project is ongoing within the FAA’s Alaska region to promote a new avionics technology that uses a GPS-driven moving map with terrain and avoidance alerting (see sidebar, pg 26).

Even in the face of markedly more difficult flying conditions than found in many parts of the country, Alaska presents itself as a breeding ground for pilots looking to build time and earn ratings en route to a dream job with a major air carrier.

The “Aircraft Pilots” section of The Occupational Handbook published online by the U.S. Department of Labor (http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocoiab.htm) states the number of pilots in a select few states, including Alaska, is more concentrated due to a higher amount of flying activity relative to the state’s population.

According to Wildblue’s Guide to Alaska Flying Jobs (www.elliottbay.com), Alaska is the only state that allows pilots in scheduled Part 121 or 135 operations to fly up to 1,400 hours per year. FARs allow any Alaska operator flying aircraft with 30 or fewer passengers to use Part 135 Unscheduled Rules. The Wildblue Web site also claims it is not uncommon for new bush pilots to earn more than $30,000 annually, due in large part to the number of hours a pilot can fly. Pilots apparently may find themselves earning as much as $45,000 or more within six months and some 10-year veterans can make more than $80,000 a year.

Non-bush flying opportunities also exist, though the starting pay is substantially lower. Wildblue explains, “copilots for the Alaskan commuters typically start at under $20,000 per year. However, because of the demands of flying in Alaska, once you upgrade to captain, your salary is substantially higher than salaries in the lower forty-eight (states). PenAir, a code-sharing commuter with Alaska Airlines that operates Metroliner IIIs and Saab 340s out of Anchorage, has some of the highest paid Metro captains in the world. New Metro captains are paid $27 per hour plus $2,700 per month. If a typical captain flies 1,200 (hours) a year, this equates to $64,800 (1,200 times 27 + 12 times 2,700).”

For some flying jobs, pilots must have “Alaska time” in order to be hired. For instance, PenAir, which also operates many smaller bush planes, stipulates minimum total time for first officer applicants at its Anchorage base is 700 hours, but minimum requirements for bush pilot applicants include 1,500 total hours, preferably with ATP, and 500 of those hours should be Alaska time.

Still, many applicants find it’s a pilot’s job market in Alaska. Alaska-based turboprop and jet operations are sometimes finding the supply of qualified pilots cannot keep up with their hiring needs, while some reciprocating-engine operators are hiring pilots out of necessity at the insurance minimum of 500 Alaska flight hours.

Larry Chenaille, president and owner of Larry’s Flying Service in Fairbanks, also laments the dearth of Alaska-based pilots. He plans to open a new flight school as soon as he can hire instructor pilots to staff it. Chenaille forecasts hiring up to 40 pilots this year, based on his expected instructing needs and attrition. Larry’s Flying Service also offers tours, charter, and scheduled service, and according to Chenaille, instructor pilots can be hired with as little as 250 hours total time and then work their way into Part 135 flying.

Goette Storm with the FAA’s Public Affairs office stated, as of February 2000, the Administration’s Alaska Region reported approximately 400 certified air operations. Among those, four are Part 121 operations; five are Parts 121 and 135; seven operate under Part 91, and 344 operate under Part 135—which means most offer opportunity for the entry-level pilot looking to take the first step of his or her pilot career. Pilot job opportunities can be found with passenger and cargo carriers, air taxi operations, and in the tourist or “flightseeing” segment of the industry.

PenAir and Era Aviation, also based in Anchorage, are the two largest commuter airlines in Alaska, although Era is primarily a helicopter operation. PenAir Chief Pilot Bryan Carricabru reported hiring about 30 pilots in 1999, while Carla Drummond, director of human resources at Era, said 15 pilots were hired for Era’s fixed-wing division during the past year.

With more than 40 years experience in Alaska, Jay Kelley has worked as a flight instructor, air-taxi pilot, commercial fish spotter, and as a pilot for fly-out fishing lodges. Kelley’s Directory of Alaska Flight Operations (www.flyalaska.net) offers a comprehensive list of more than 260 fixed- and rotor-wing flight operations throughout all regions of Alaska.

“The best time for getting hired is generally late winter or early spring,” Kelley suggests. “The weather is starting to improve … so new hires increase in early spring.” He also notes that seasonal layoffs occur in the fall for many aviation operations “simply because there is less flying in the winter for most small air taxis.”

Erika Berhhardt is an Anchorage, AK native who learned to fly in 1995. She began working for Talkeetna, AK-based K-2 Aviation in May 2000, making scenic flights around Mt. McKinley.

Photo courtesy of Erika Bernhardt

Pilots currently working in Alaska often feel they have found their niche in life.

During the summer, Erika Bernhardt flies a turbocharged Cessna 206 on flightseeing trips for K-2 Aviation in Talkeetna. When the K-2 job wraps up for the season, Bernhardt will earn coveted turbine-engine time in the right seat of a Casa 212-200, working part-time at Arctic Transportation Services (ATS). ATS also will provide a Part 135 checkride in the Casa.

Bernhardt began her paid pilot career hauling mail and freight in a Cessna 207 for ATS, an all-cargo, scheduled service operator with a 40-year history of bush operations. After receiving a college degree in journalism and public communications in 1992, Bernhardt earned her private pilot license and later her multiengine rating with the help of a scholarship from the Alaska Chapter of the ‘99s, a women’s pilot organization. A year later, she got her instrument rating and by the time she got the job with ATS, she had almost 600 hours, 500 of which were Alaska time, thereby meeting the minimum required by insurance companies.

Some of Bernhardt’s own time-building experience is indicative of the unique, challenging conditions under which Alaskan pilots often fly. In “Tweety Bird,” her yellow Citabria, Bernhardt flew flightseeing junkets to spectate the famed Iditarod sled dog race.

During that time she shared landing patterns with seasoned Iditarod Air Force pilots and gained experience landing her aircraft in remote places such as on frozen rivers and arctic tundra.

Even while gaining competitive total time, Bernhardt remains realistic about upgrading her pilot career. Saying, “it’s nice to dream,” Bernhardt realizes a move up to a major or national airline will take some time. “I’m sure no such offer is possible for another two or three years of paying dues. I’ll be much better prepared for a major airline after a couple more years honing my decision-making skills with different flying experiences,” she says. Cash flow will determine whether she gets an ATP in the spring or fall of 2001.

Paul Horn, 37, also is forging a pilot career in Alaska. Horn earned his Associate’s degree in aircraft maintenance technology and following a stint in the Air Force, added A&P certification, and later his aircraft inspector authorization. Horn then gradually earned his commercial and IFR pilot certificates, and even float ratings. In 1993, he moved from Mesa, AZ, to Ketchikan, AK, where he worked as a mechanic and pilot trainee. After earning Alaska time at his first paid job flying mail and passengers in a Cessna 207, Horn invested in his multiengine and ATP ratings.

Along his career path, Horn built time during the summer flying a deHavilland Beaver and a twin-engine Otter on floats for a fishing lodge, adding about 300 hours to his total time.

Last June, with a total of about 6,000 hours, Horn said he feels close to competitive on the major airline scene. Even so, Horn is fully aware that multiengine time in turboprops or jets also is needed to qualify for the majors. He plans to log right seat multiengine turboprop time at a part-time job, and says he’s prepared to “consider any job offered by a major,” but truly hopes he’s able to maintain his home in Alaska.

Marie Campbell, owner and manager of Aviation Training Center in Seattle, says she observed some interesting trends among local pilots while attending an aviation trade show last summer at Anchorage International Airport. She was surprised to hear how much total time many bush pilots had and still were flying with small companies in Alaska and mentions that pilots in Washington State with equivalent flight time would almost certainly be flying with a Part 135 operation or regional airline. In fact, she points out, some Alaskan bush pilots owned enough total time to be with major airlines outside the state.

Paul Horn admits that he “sometimes scared myself” while learning to read air and water conditions from seasoned Alaskan pilots, but adds, “each experience taught me a valuable lesson.”

Photo courtesy of Paul Horn

“Whenever I suggested Scenic Air, Grand Canyon, Tol-Air, or Great Lakes as companies that have less stringent requirements, or Guam, Puerto Rico, and Samoa as places where [Alaskan bush pilots] could get 135 experience to help them move to the regionals and majors, they were not receptive,” Campbell recalls. “I suggested they would only have to go for six months and when they returned, they would be better qualified for jobs in Alaska, [but] the ‘Stay-in-Alaska’ attitude seems to limit them.”

Regardless of the restrictions some pilots impose on their own progression, most local flying operations in Alaska understand the nature of an ambitious pilot’s career. Time building and moving on is a part of the business and while not thrilled at the idea of losing pilots, several managers of small air-operations acknowledge that some pilots use their operations as a stepping-stone to the majors.

“We don’t like losing pilots, of course, but we understand it,” says Sandra Saltz, owner and operator of F.S. Air Service, Inc., an air charter service based in Anchorage. After two years flying turbines and jets for F.S. Air, pilots with college degrees generally move on, she says. “We’ve learned to expect pilots will gravitate toward the 747 culture.”

That may be true, but for every pilot who eventually moves on from Alaska, many others remain reluctant to leave. There’s just something about flying across wide-open expanses of wilderness with the Northern Lights flickering overhead that tends to captivate pilots and make them want to stay forever. Just ask Paul Horn. He knows.