ENTERPRISE AIRLINES: United States (1988-1990). After establishing a plan and raising $1.2 million, Patrick Sowers forms Enterprise Airlines at Cincinnati in the spring of 1988 to operate “spoke-to-spoke” services to eight destinations: Columbus, Dayton, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Greenville/Spartanburg, and Greensboro/High Point.
Employing one of three used Cessna Citation II business jets, the new regional inaugurates revenue flights, the first to Milwaukee, on May 2 and transports a total of 870 passengers during its first month.
Monthly bookings of primarily corporate executives average 3,000 by year’s end. Poor load factors cause service to Buffalo to be dropped just after Christmas.
In February 1989, daily roundtrip flights commence from Louisville’s Standiford Airport to Cincinnati and Greensboro, North Carolina.
In April, a nine-month contract is signed with British Airways, Ltd. (2) to feed the megacarrier at Boston and New York (JFK). The arrangement begins in May when, under BA’s two-letter designator, the airline provides three daily frequencies between Boston and New York, connecting with Concorde flights. Simultaneously, twice-daily service is introduced from Hartford to Boston under its own designator.
In June, 51% shareholding is sold to Chicago West Pullman. Three additional Citations are acquired during the remainder of the summer to accommodate the BA service and, in anticipation of additional expansion, six landing slots are purchased by lottery at Chicago (ORD).
The BA contract ends in January 1990. In April, Memphis is added as an extension of the route from Cincinnati to Louisville. Ground handling at the Tennessee airport is provided by United Airlines.
With fuel prices more than doubling after the August 2 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the carrier is forced to drop 28 daily flights from its schedule in November. Unable to maintain viability in a time of recession, the small regional is forced to cease operations on November 14, laying off all employees and returning all of its corporate jetliners.
Enterprise is largely remembered as one of the first U. S. regional airlines to employ regional jetliners; a year later, the carrier’s surviving local competitor, Comair, will announce its launch of the Canadair Regional Jet, which will further revolutionize short-segment services.
ENTA (EMPRESA NACIONAL DES TRANSPORTES AEREOS, S. A.): Costa Rica (1932-1940). American William “Bill” Schoenfeldt establishes ENTA at San Jose on March 2, 1932 and irregular sight-seeing flights over the capital city and charters to outlying communities are initiated. A government mail contract, which can be interpreted as an
8,000 colones annual subsidy, is received on October 29.
With a Fokker F-VII, scheduled services are inaugurated on April 5, 1933 to such destinations as Liberia, Santa Cruz, Las Canas, Nicoya, Ciudad Quesada, Limon, San Ramon, Buenos Aires, San Isidro de el
General, Puerto Jimenez, and Puerto Cortes. A Fokker F-VIIb/3m is placed in service on May 23.
Services are maintained and the fleet is increased by the addition of a Fokker F-10, a Boeing 40B-4, and the Ford 5-AT-39 in 1934 and 1935. On March 13 of the latter year, Schoenfeldt withdraws from the company and is succeeded by Eric Murray. On May 30, Murray and Roman Macaya, owner of competing Aerovias Nacionales (Macaya), S. A., agree to rationalize their competition by halting unnecessary duplication and offering a unified fare structure.
Following a complete overhaul, the Ford 5-AT-43 Tri-Motor (which had begun operations in 1929 as the Wichita Falls of Southwest Air Fast Express) is purchased from American Airlines on February 15, 1936.
During the spring, a Travel Air 6000 is acquired to replace the singleengine Fokker. The new aircraft is employed to begin international services from San Jose on July 14 to Managua and to David, Panama.
On June 20, 1937, the Travel Air crashes in the mountains and all aboard are lost; the wreckage will not be found until February 9, 1941.
During 1938-1939, both the domestic and regional networks are maintained and the fleet is increased by the addition of four more Travel Airs and, on June 24, 1938, the Ford 5-AT-70. During this time, Eric Murray and Roman Macaya lay plans to sell out to Lowell Yerex’s Honduran carrier TACA (Transportes Aereos Centros Americanos, S. A.), which begins flying into San Jose on October 20 of the latter year.
The first outward step is taken on January 16, 1940 when ENTA and Aerovias Nacionals (Macaya), S. A. are merged into Aerovias Na-cionale de Costa Rica, S. A. On June 20, the government cancels the airmail contracts of the Murray-Macaya operation, but on October 20, TACA absorbs the newly amalgamated carrier as Compania Nacional TACA de Costa Rica, S. A. and receives the government mail subsidies formerly held by the independents.
EQUATOR AIRLINES, LTD.: P. O. Box 43356, Nairobi, Kenya; Phone 254 (2) 501 319; Fax 254 (2) 506 101; Code 3P; Year Founded 1989. Equator Airlines is organized at Wilson Airport at Nairobi in 1989 from the assets of the former Pioneer Airlines, Ltd. Managing Director Capt. Musa H. Bulhan’s company prepares to offer service with a fleet that initially comprises 2 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders, 4 Cessna 310s, 3 Cessna 402s, 3 Cessna 404 Titans, and 2 Piper PA-31-310 Nava-jos. Scheduled commuter flights are undertaken linking Nairobi with Mombasa, Malindi, and Lamu.
Three Cessna 310s join the fleet in 1990 followed by three Piper PA-32 Cherokee Sixes and three Piper PA-34 Senecas in 1991.
The Islanders are withdrawn in 1992 and are succeeded by a single Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain.
The aircraft mix changes again in 1993-1994, this time to include two Senecas, one Cessna 310, one C-402, and three Cherokee Arrows.
Service is maintained in 1995-2000, though by the latter year the fleet includes only two C-402Bs.
EQUATORIAL INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES OF SAO TOME E PRINCIPE, S. A.: Sao Tome & Principe (1986-1993). Equatorial International is formed in 1986 to succeed the nation’s former flag carrier, Linhas Aereas de Sao Tome e Principe, S. A., which had stopped flying in December 1985. Shareholding in the joint venture is held equally by the Sao Tome government and International Aircraft Services, based at Shannon, Ireland.
In 1988, Chairman K. R. G. Hellinger and General Manager J. Portugal’s single Fokker F.27-400M Friendship maintains services from its Sao Tome base to Principe and to Libreville, Gabon.
Portugal is succeeded as general manager by Joao E. Dos Reis in 1990 and an Aerospatiale (Nord) 262 joins the fleet, allowing the introduction of a frequency to Douala, Cameroons.
The fleet in 1991 includes a pair of Nord 262s and a Fokker F.27-400M.
The Fokker is retired for economic reasons in 1992 and yet another general manager, Victor Manuel da C. Diogo, is appointed. In 1993, he oversees a workforce of 55 and briefly returns the Friendship to service. In addition to charter flights, the company continues to operate its previous schedules until October, when the company is reformed as Air Sao Tome e Principe, S. A.
ERAAVIATION: 6160 Carl Brady Drive, Anchorage, Alaska 99502, United States; Phone (907) 248-4422; Fax (907) 266-8350; Http://www. era-aviation. com; Code 7H; Year Founded 1947. Having learned to fly helicopters in Yakima, Washington, in 1947, Carl F. Brady leases a Bell 47A (later purchasing it for $29,500) and with two partners establishes Economy Pest Control.
In 1948, Brady wins a U. S. Geological Survey contract to assist in the mapping of Alaska. The Bell 47A is transferred to Anchorage, where its owner, having established the territory’s first commercial helicopter operation, renames his company Economy Helicopters. It is at this point that Brady, having discovered that his craft’s castored wheels work poorly in the new environment, attaches two strips of lumber to them, creating what will come to be known as Tundra Boards. Legend has it that Bell, as a result, now replaces the wheels on its helicopters with skids.
Two years after starting Anchorage flights, Brady accepts his first petroleum-support job in 1950.
Geophysical and mapping flights continue during the next five years and, in 1956, offshore operations are begun on the Kenai Peninsula on behalf of Union Oil and Standard Oil of California.
Unable to purchase the larger Sikorsky S-55s required to fulfill its initial contract from its own resources, Economy enters into a partnership with California-based Rotor Aids. The new ERA Helicopters is able to acquire two S-55s for $175,000 each. Bell 47J-2s are soon added and Cook Inlet becomes a service area. In 1957-1958, ERA is the first to use Sikorsky S-55s for external loads in Alaska.
In 1959, company headquarters are moved to a new hangar complex at Anchorage’s Merrill Field and a satellite base is set up at Kenai in 1962. Two years later, in 1964, the company introduces the first turbine-powered helicopter to fly in Alaska, a Bell 204B. The first S-62 is introduced in Alaska during the following year.
In need of additional capitalization, founder Brady allows ERA to be acquired in 1967 by Houston-based Rowan Drilling, Inc. for $2.5 million. Rowan Drilling is a major corporation involved in worldwide oil exploration, including recent finds on the North Slope of Alaska, Brady becomes a Rowan board member and executive vice president in charge of ERA Helicopters.
The concern’s first Bell 206A JetRanger along with its first turbine-powered Bell 205A-1 are dispatched to Alaska in 1968. The company also sends its first Swearingen Merlin IIA to Anchorage the same year to fly fixed-wing freight services.
In 1969, ERA is the first company to employ a Sikorsky S-64E Sky Crane on a commercial contract; the huge helicopter is able to lift
20,000 pounds.
In 1970, the company begins heavy involvement in offshore support, launching operations into the Gulf of Mexico. The same year it accepts its first contracts to provide foreign services, beginning in Africa and the Mideast. At the same time, a Beech King Air 90 is acquired to provide emergency hospital transfer flights on behalf of Anchorage’s Providence Hospital.
The first de Havilland Canada DHC-6-200 Twin Otters arrive in 1971-1973 and begin roundtrip flights to Kenai. A Part 121 charter license is acquired and a Hawker Siddely DH-125 executive jet is employed commercially in Alaska for the first time.
CEO Brady realizes that for its Alaska operation to remain effective ERA will have to introduce instrument flying. A close and lasting relationship is now established with Norway’s Helikopter Service, A. S., which initially trains ERA pilots in the new science.
The Fairbanks-based helicopter company, Merrick, Inc., is purchased in 1974 ; in 1975, Livingston Copters of Juneau is also taken over. During the year and into the decade, the operator pioneers instrument flight rules (IFR) helicopter operations in Alaska, with minimums of 200 feet and visibility of half a mile. It also advances IFR flight by pioneering the use of airborne radar as an approach aid to ships, while also working on the Alaska Pipeline.
A DHC-6-200 is destroyed in a ground accident at Fairbanks on May 13, 1976.
In 1977, sling-load techniques are developed for use in instrument conditions and the company’s Sikorsky S-61s and Bell 212s begin to support drilling rigs in the Gulf of Alaska.
In 1978, a Gulf of Mexico division is established at Lake Charles, Louisiana. Simultaneously, IFR helicopter operations are introduced to the North Slope of Alaska.
The Rowan Corporation subsidiary is now divided into three divisions. ERA Helicopters Alaska Division and ERA Helicopters Gulf Coast Division, provide charter, contract, survey, exploration and energy industry support services within their respective U. S. geographical areas. The third division, Jet Alaska, later takes the name of the corporation and provides fixed-wing charter and contract flights within the state.
In 1979, the company transfers from Merrill Field to Anchorage International Airport and establishes a new aviation center.
The fixed-wing fleet of nine de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters and Beech King Air 100s is enhanced in September 1980 when ERA receives government authority to employ its three new Convair CV-580s under Part 121 conditions. The first Aerospatiale AS-350 AStar enters service toward year’s end.
In 1981, the FAA approves the introduction of techniques for carrying external helicopter loads in instrument conditions. The first Bell 412 helicopters, with their four-bladed rotor systems, join the helicopter fleet in Alaska.
Beginning in April 1982, company helicopters are based at Bristol Bay to provide a quarter of support services to fish-processing ships anchored offshore. The activity will become an annual event.
On April 8, an ERA helicopter makes the first certified Airborne Radar Approach to an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1983, the company becomes the first air operator to fly a de Hav-illand DHC-7 in Alaska. A scheduled service is initiated with the new turboprop in May between Anchorage and Valdez.
While landing three passengers and a load of cargo on a ridge near the upper part of a glacier not far from Yakutat on May 20, the pilot of an SA-318C encounters whiteout conditions. The helicopter’s right float and main rotor strike the snow-covered surface and the machine rolls over. The aircraft is shut down, all aboard escape, don survival gear, and are rescued the following day after a weather delay.
Just after takeoff from Dutch Harbor on July 11, an AS-350 with one pilot and three passengers encounters engine problems. The helicopter autorotates down to an emergency landing on sloping, mountainous terrain, rolling over and sliding to the bottom of a ravine. All aboard are injured—one seriously—but are quickly rescued.
While 50 helicopters operate in the Gulf of Mexico and 62 in Alaska, the company’s fixed-wing division joins the Alaska Airlines Commuter Service network as a code-sharing partner on December 31. It begins to undertake scheduled third-level services to destinations in the south and central part of the state under a program later labeled Village Service. Bases are established at Anchorage and Bethel.
Employing 3 Convair CV-580s, 1 DHC-7-103, and 8 DHC-6 Twin Otters, the carrier inaugurates fixed-wing scheduled flights in early 1984 to Chefornak, Chevak, Eek, Goodnews Bay, Hooper Bay, Kenai, Kip-nuk, Kongiganak, Kwigillingok, Marshall, Mekoryuk, Newtok, Night-mute, Platinum, Quinhagak, Russian Mission, Scammon Bay, Toksook, Tununak, and Valdez.
As many as four IFR contracts are now being fulfilled by eight helicopters from Dead Horse, on Alaska’s North Slope. The company’s Alaska-based helicopter fleet is joined by ERA’s first AS-332C/Ls and Bell 214STs.
Founder/CEO Brady retires on October 31.
Just after liftoff from a 130-ft. high drilling rig at E Cameron Blk. 2 in the Gulf of Mexico on November 12, a Bell 206L LongRanger with one pilot and four passengers loses all power. Although autorotation is begun, the ditching is hard, causing the aircraft to roll over. All aboard escape, but four are injured, one seriously.
A total of 140,000 passengers are flown on fixed-wing services during the year.
In January 1985, the company is reorganized. David L. Baumeister becomes president/CEO, while Charles W. “Chuck” Johnson, the Gulf Coast Division’s manager, becomes executive vice president.
In April, the company acquires a Boeing Vertol Model 234 Commercial Chinook and establishes a new base at St. Paul Island. Under contract to Exxon USA, ERA pilots, trained by the Norwegian operator He-likopter Service, A. S., operates the new helicopter to the Exxon USA rig Doo Sung (Korean for Big Dipper). Located in the Navarin Basin, a new energy field in the Bering Sea off Alaska, beginning in June.
On July 14, a Soviet Air Force reconnaissance aircraft makes several low-level passes over the Doo Sung rig less than half an hour after the Chinook departs for St. Paul Island.
While on final approach to the airport at Gulkana, Alaska, on the night of August 20, a Gates Learjet 24D of the Jet Alaska division, with one pilot and two passengers, descends below minimum altitude and crashes 7.4 mi. N of the runway; there are no survivors.
At the end of the summer, one of the company’s Aerospatiale AS-332Ls is also operated on behalf of Arco Alaska.
While on approach to Juneau on an October 22 medevac flight, another Jet Alaska Gates Learjet 24D with two crew and two passengers descends below minimum altitude and crashes into a 3,500-ft. mountain; there are no fatalities.
Offshore support flight hours per month reach a company high of 3,750, while fixed-wing passenger boardings for the year rise 3.6% to 145,000.
The fixed-wing fleet in 1986 includes nine Twin Otters and three CV-580s. Following receipt of three more MBB BO-105 helicopters at its Lake Charles, Louisiana, base, the company, with 23 of the type, is the largest BO-105 operator in the world.
The company’s Aviation Services Division begins manufacturing external auxiliary fuel tanks for the Bell 205 , 212, and 214 helicopters. Known as Kevlar tanks, those aircraft fitted gain 1.5 hours of additional endurance.
During the summer, the company accepts a contract to fight fires in California with Bell 212s. At the same time, Bell 206B JetRanger sightseeing tours are first offered in Alaska.
An average of 57 helicopters are now active in offshore support roles. Fixed-wing enplanements for the year climb 4.8% to 151,988.
One Twin Otter is withdrawn in 1987 and replaced by a Beech King Air 200. In February, sight-seeing work begins in Hawaii employing a pair of Aerospatiale AS-355 TwinStars based at Kauai.
During the spring, the Alaska-based ERA Helicopters enters the sightseeing business. Flights are offered to Norris Glacier employing two Bell 206B JetRangers and a Bell 212.
A total of 1,200 passengers are transported by summer’s end on 11 packages from Juneau, Anchorage, Mount McKinley, Valdez, Fairbanks, and Prudhoe Bay. At the same time, seven VFR-equipped Bell 206B Jet-Rangers are contracted to provide support for mineral exploration in Alaska; flights are made on behalf of gold, silver, lead, zinc, and platinum mining. With the downturn in exploratory work on Alaska’s North Slope, the company now bases only one Bell 412 at Dead Horse, where it flies under contract to Tennaco, and three Bell 212s at Cook Inlet.
The company’s helicopter division expands its base network along the Texas and Louisiana coasts in November when it opens a new facility at Intercoastal City, the third site commissioned in two years.
By year’s end, the company has flown over 22,000 incident-free IFR hours. Although several new fixed-wing routes are added, passenger boardings decline by 7.9% to 139,923. Freight, on the other hand, accelerates by 27.5% to 2.88 million pounds.
Airline employment grows by 11.1% in 1988 to 750 and the Alaska-based fixed-wing fleet now includes 8 Twin Otters, 3 CV-580s, and 1 Beech King Air 200. An average of 46 helicopters are now active in offshore support roles.
While practicing touch-and-go landings from Dillingham Airport on May 24, a Cessna 206 with one pilot, collides with a company AS-350D with one pilot and three passengers that is lifting off; both aircraft crash and all aboard each aircraft are killed.
On June 18, the carrier celebrates its fortieth anniversary and changes its name from ERA Helicopters to ERA Aviation to reflect its diversity.
At the same time, the rotary-wing fleet is increased by the addition of six Aerospatiale AS-355 TwinStars and four AS-350B Ecureuils. Two of the TwinStars are based on Kauai and one on Maui for Hawaiian sightseeing operations. A Bell 212 is sent to Phoenix, Arizona, under contract to assist in the Salt River hydroelectric project.
During the summer, company helicopters are called upon to fight massive fires, including those consuming over a million acres in Alaska and in Yellowstone National Park. Bell 212s from the Lake Charles, Louisiana, base are sent to participate in suppression of the latter. Three Bell 212s based at a West Coast division in Santa Monica, California, combat blazes in the far west; one of these, based at Chantry Flat in the San Gabriel Mountains is the first helicopter under contract to the U. S. Forest Service for IFR flight. Another aircraft, an AS-355 TwinStar based at Boise, is equipped with an experimental Conair fire-retardant system.
As the Gulf support market improves slightly, the company is able to announce a 7% rate increase on September 1.
In the fall, a specially equipped AS-355 TwinStar begins a six-month experimental emergency medical service (EMS) on behalf of Providence Hospital at Anchorage.
While departing an elevated heli-deck on an offshore production platform in the Gulf of Mexico on November 4, an AS-355F with one pilot and five passengers suffers a complete loss of tail rotor thrust and aircraft control due to a failure of the tail rotor drive shaft. The helicopter crashes into the sea and sinks; four aboard are killed and the two survivors are seriously injured.
Also in Alaska, an AS-332L Super Puma provides 400 hours of support work for Amoco off the North Slope before it is sold to CHC Canadian Helicopter Corporation, Ltd. later in the month.
Fixed-wing customer bookings rebound by 17.7% to 164,728 and cargo rises 9.7% to 3,160,000 pounds.
The workforce is increased by 21.1% in 1989 to 809 and the fixed-wing fleet is increased by the addition of another CV-580. The helicopter fleet now includes 86 aircraft. In Alaska, ERA bases 4 AS-350Bs, 1 AS-355, 14 Bell 206Bs, 4 Bell 206Ls, 4 Bell 212s, and 1 Bell 412. Three AS-355s are based in Hawaii and in California there are 1 each AS-355, Bell 206B, and Bell 206L, plus 6 Bell 212s. At Lake Charles, ERA bases 3 AS-355s, 5 Bell 206Bs, 1 Bell 212s, 11 412s, and all 23 of its MBB BO-105s.
Two Aerospatiale AS-350B-1 Ecureuils are delivered to the Anchorage helicopter base in March.
Following the grounding of the tanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound on March 25, a total of 17 company helicopters are sent to the Valdez to provide assistance. AS 350 AStars, Bell 206L/Bs, a Bell 412, and even an AS-332L Super Puma are employed during the remainder of the month and into April to help chart the spill’s spread, fly to and from the stricken ship, and install emergency telecommunications gear.
En route from Anchorage to Valdez on May 6, a Bell 412 crashes into a snowbank some 32 miles SE of the former location; although both occupants escape injury, the $3.5-million machine must be written off.
While en route back to base from a passenger service to a remote drilling site in rural Alaska on June 15, an AS-350B collides with the rock face of a 3,900-ft. ridge near Puntilla Lake; the pilot is killed and the helicopter is destroyed.
Following the October 17 San Francisco earthquake, California division Bell 206Bs provide power line patrol for PG&E between Monterey and Santa Cruz while, on behalf of the state’s Department of Forestry, a specially equipped JetRanger helps to assess damage in the Santa Cruz region employing a forward-looking, infrared (FLIR) system.
During the year, founder Brady is named “Alaskan of the Year.”
Passenger boardings for the Convairs and de Havillands jump 31.4% over these 12 months to 216,107 and the company, with the submergence of Okanagan Helicopters, Ltd. into CHC Canadian Helicopters Corporation, Ltd., is now the oldest surviving commercial helicopter operator in the free world.
On average, 37 helicopters are active in offshore support roles in 1990 as the company now employs 95 pilots and 122 mechanics.
To serve the company’s southeast Gulf Coast operations, ERA Helicopters opens a new base in Houma, Louisiana, in January.
During the spring, an Aerospatiale AS-332L Super Puma is acquired to support Shell Western Oil Company’s Chukchi Sea operations.
Just after landing at Chevak following a March 29 service from Bethel, the right main landing gear of a DHC-6-200 with 2 crew and 13 passengers breaks off, causing the plane to yaw right and veer off the runway; although the turboprop is damaged beyond repair, there are no fatalities.
In August, a company Bell 212 from Santa Maria is one of several private helicopters dispatched to battle a fire near famed Steamboat Rock, outside Yosemite Valley.
Two DHC-8-100s join the fixed-wing fleet, but cannot prevent a 4.4% decline in passenger traffic to 206,598 passengers flown.
In addition to the 2 DHC-8-100s, the fleet in 1991 includes 4 Convair CV-580s, 5 DHC-6-100s, 2 DHC-6-200s, and 1 DHC-6-300s, plus helicopters. Meanwhile, the company is the only offshore-support operator in the Gulf of Mexico to employ an all twin-engine helicopter fleet; in February, orders are placed for 10 MBB BO-105CBSs.
President/CEO Baumeister dies on February 13. He is succeeded by Rowan Companies, Inc. Chairman/CEO C. R. “Bob” Palmer. Wilbur O’Brien, meanwhile, becomes president/chief operating officer of the ERA subsidiary.
On July 1, a letter of intent is signed by parent Rowan Companies, Inc. with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V. for the purchase of a 49% stake in KLM Helikopters B. V. The contract takes effect in October, at which point the two helicopter operations commence “close cooperation.” On November 1, KLM Helikopters, B. V. is renamed KLM/ERA Helikopters, B. V. The Dutch line’s managing director, Harry Schoev-ers, assumes the same post with the new joint venture, while ERA Aviation’s Services Division General Manager Rudy Park becomes deputy managing director. With the exception of KLM’s 7 Sikorsky S-61Ns, the 114 helicopters that the new operation has to draw upon are all medium twin-engine aircraft. Plans are made for KLM/ERA to concentrate on world markets while ERA Aviation flies in North America.
Helicopter sight-seeing operations continue to be coordinated with the Holland America and Princess cruise lines. Flight-seeing trips are made with three AS-355 TwinStars from Juneau to the surrounding Taku, Hole In the Wall, and Dead Branch glaciers, as well as to old Gold Rush sites.
ERA Aviation, the fixed-wing subsidiary, is largely able to avoid being caught up in the fare war that erupts between Alaska Airlines and MarkAir late in the year. The Rowan subsidiary does, however, become an affiliate in the former’s commuter network.
As Alaska’s largest Section 401 carrier, the 660-employee ERA transports a total of 208,090 fixed-wing passengers, down 0.7%, and 3,736,829 pounds of mail.
In January 1992, ERA Aviation begins to coordinate its schedule with Peninsula Airways and Reeve Aleutian Airways so as to achieve a better exchange of passengers with Alaska Airlines jetliners serving Anchorage. It also becomes the Alaska Airlines feeder on the busy Anchorage to Kodiak route and quickly sees its market-share on that run increase 30%-60%.
During the second quarter, the helicopter division takes delivery of five new Eurocopter (formerly Aerospatiale) AS-350B-2 Ecureuils, which replace eight AS-355 TwinStars. The sight-seeing competition with Temsco Airlines of Ketchikan now intensifies.
On May 1, the company receives a $532,000 contract to transport government workers and cargo throughout Alaska for the U. S. Bureau of Land Management.
During the summer, five Bell 212s and 22 pilots, under the direction of veteran ERA helicopter pilot Larry Schmidt, are contracted to fly in Bosnia-Herzegovina on behalf of the UN from a base at Zagreb.
In July, the company contracts with Marathon Petroleum Sakhalin, Ltd., in conjunction with its KLM/ERA Helikopters, B. V. affiliate, to provide a pair of Bell 212s and eight crew for oil exploration work off Russia’s Sakhalin Island, north of Japan. The work, conducted through October, marks the first time a U. S. helicopter operator has flown U. S.-registered aircraft in Russian territory.
Meanwhile, five ERA helicopters and their crews are sent to Croatia to participate in the UN peacekeeping effort.
Overall passenger boardings not only recover but jump ahead by 33.3% to 277,484.
In 1993, President/CEO O’Brien oversees a workforce of 300 and the operation of 4 CV-580s, 8 DHC-6s, and 1 DHC-8. Service is provided from Bethel and Anchorage to Kenai, Homer, Valdez, Kodiak, Iliamna, and 17 western Alaska villages.
During the first quarter, the company receives a one-year UN contract to operate three Bell 212s and three Bell 206L LongRangers in Croatia.
In July, senior pilot Daniel Hurst retires after 13 years with the company. When President O’Brien retires on December 1, he is succeeded by Charles “Chuck” W. Johnson, the company’s longtime executive vice president.
Customer bookings for the year increase 12.4% to 311,858.
Airline employment is increased by 8.8% in 1994 to 822 and the fleet now includes the 4 CV-580s, 11 Twin Otters, and 2 DHC-8-102s, plus 2 Cessna 208 Caravan Is, 1 Beech Super King Air 200, and 1 Learjet 35A.
In July, a 3-year, $17-million contract is signed with China Southern Airlines Company, Ltd.’s helicopter subsidiary Zhuhai Helicopter Company to support the Liuhua 11-1 oil field work of Amoco Orient Petroleum Co. at a location 120 mi. SE of Hong Kong. The deal includes use of an ERA helicopter, personnel, and maintenance support.
Following flight-simulator training on the Helikopter Service, A. S. simulator in Norway, four Chinese pilots arrive at Anchorage on August 1 to train to ERA’s AS-332L Super Puma. On August 7-15, the company’s Super Puma with a crew of two Chinese pilots, an ERA pilot, an ERA mechanic, and a Russian navigator, is ferried from Nome to Shenzhen, China via Russia. A second Super Puma will later be sent out to join the Sino-American energy effort.
During late fall, the Santa Maria, California, operation is moved to Reno’s Stead Airport to take advantage of expanded business opportunities and to escape the Golden State’s air transport and tax problems. In December, three contracts are acquired to provide AS-350 heli-skiing services in Telluride, Colorado, Snowbird, Utah, and Sun Valley, Idaho.
At year’s end, negotiations begin for the ERA Aviation subsidiary Rowan Companies to purchase the assets of Alaska Helicopters.
At the same time, two Douglas DC-3s are acquired for use with the new nostalgic subsidiary, ERA Classic Airlines. With interiors redone to 1940 vintage and a bright red, white, and black livery, the ancient airliners transport tourists over and around various Alaskan sites. The classic operation will come to generate significant public relations for the company, particularly with visitors from Europe.
Passenger bookings leap ahead by 21.7% to 379,372 while freight jumps 17.6% to 7.82 million FTKs.
Employment at the Airline Division stands at 330 in 1995 and its fleet comprises 9 DHC-6s, 2 DHC-8s, and 4 CV-580s.
The West Coast regional headquarters is moved to Reno, Nevada. On March 9, the Anchorage Daily News reports that ERA has developed a new passenger lift for physically challenged visitors wishing to view the state from the air. The portable lift will be available for flight-seeing tours during the summer over Juneau and Denali National Parks.
Restored to their 1940s splendor, the 28-seat DC-3s Spirt of Alaska and Spirit of the North of ERA Classic Airlines in mid-May inaugurate daily, seasonal, Nostalgic Air Tours over a route that takes them over Mount McKinley, the Alaska Range, Prince William Sound, and the Harding Ice Field. The long Alaskan summer days allow the 50-year-old ex-USAAF C-47s to depart Anchorage at 4 p. m. and 7 p. m. local time.
In late August, a letter of intent is signed for the $11-million purchase of Alaska Helicopters. The assets acquired include 17 Bell helicopters, associated spare parts, and hangar and office space adjacent to ERA’s location at Anchorage International Airport. The final agreement is signed in early October.
Meanwhile, in mid-September, the seasonal flights of ERA Classic Airlines end for the year.
Scheduled enplanements this year jump 8% to 408,404.
Although the employee population does not change in 1996, the fixed-wing fleet is increased by the addition of one each Twin Otter and CV-580. Orders are placed for a pair of Embraer EMB-145 Amazon regional jets.
While en route from an offshore platform at Main Pass 265 in the Gulf of Mexico to another platform 44 miles away at Mobile Bay on February 10, an MBB BO-105 with two passengers disappears. Wreckage is not found for 18 days, at which point a shrimp boat entangles pieces of the helicopter in its net, 6 mi. SW of the aircraft’s destination. There are no survivors.
ERA Classic Airlines’ two DC-3s return to the air in mid-May for four months of flight-seeing.
For two months during the summer, the company tests the concept of heli-hiking at Alaska’s Denali National Park. A pair of two Eurocopter AS-350Bs, stationed just outside the park and contracted with a local guide company, transport tourists into the park, where they undertake 1-5-mile hikes and then are returned by air.
While transporting two passengers on a flight-seeing service over a large mountain range near Cantwell, Alaska, on September 13, the pilot of a Bell 206B JetRanger becomes disoriented during a whiteout and crashes into a 5,300-ft. high ridge. There are no survivors.
Customer bookings accelerate 3.7% to 423,564.
International service begins in May 1997 as the Convairs inaugurate twice-daily return service between Anchorage and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
Four months of heli-hiking flights commence at Denali National Park during the month; at the same time, the company’s aerial tour of the park is expanded to a full 75 minutes. Simultaneously, the two DC-3s of ERA Classic Airlines resume their four-month summer schedule.
On June 8, twice-daily roundtrips are inaugurated from Anchorage to Seward. In conjunction with Alaska’s centennial celebration for the gold rush stampedes, ERA creates a historical tour out of Valdez—that will run for two years—that follows a path of the original gold rushers to a historical location where passengers receive dinner and lecture at a historic lodge.
Having decided to concentrate on its core business of offshore support, Leiden, Netherlands-based Schreiner Aviation Group on September 1 purchases the 51% controlling interest in KLM ERA Helikopters, B. V. held by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V. The remaining shares continue to be held by the Rowan Co. via its subsidiary ERA Aviation. The sale includes five Sikorsky S-61Ns and five S-76Bs. Three of the former are purchased back.
One S-61N arrives at the Gulf Coast division headquarters at Lake Charles, Louisiana, in October. In November, the Sikorsky is introduced on offshore transfers in the Gulf of Mexico from a base at Houma, Louisiana, to which it is repositioned.
Fixed-wing passenger boardings at the airline slide 1.6% to 416,857.
The second two Sikorsky S-61Ns arrive in Louisiana in February 1998. The fixed-wing fleet now includes 5 CV-580s, 10 Twin Otters, 2 Dash-8s, and 2 DC-3s.
During the spring, a new livery is introduced to celebrate the company’s fiftieth anniversary.
In mid-May, the two DC-3s of ERA Classic Airlines resume their summer schedule.
On May 30, a Take Flight Alaska Cessna 172RG with two passengers on a flight training sortie from Anchorage, collides with an ERA AS-350B2 with a pilot and four cruise ship passengers who are being transported to the Juneau ice fields, at a point 4 mi. E of Juneau. The helicopter sustains substantial damage to its right doors and fuselage and one passenger is seriously injured. The helicopter is, however, able to make a safe emergency landing at a mine site a half-mile from the impact site. The Cessna, meanwhile, crashes into Gastineau Channel and is destroyed; both men aboard are killed.
Joined by helicopter manufacturing executives, 600 employees, Alaska Governor Tony Knowles, and retired USAF Gen. Chuck Yeager, ERA celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in July. The milestone marks ERA as the oldest continuously operated commercial helicopter operations in the world. Its airline division also celebrates; it is the largest regional carrier in Alaska. Customer bookings during the 12 months climb 2.1% to 425,449.
By the beginning of 1999, airline employment has grown to 350. ERA is now the third largest helicopter operator in the Gulf of Mexico and the world’s fifth largest rotary-wing concern. In January, its offshore support fleet of S-61Ns and S-76A+s is bolstered by the addition of a Eurocopter AS-332L Super Puma. Indeed, the helicopter makes the first commercial flight by its type in the Gulf during the month when it flies a crew-change mission to a Norwegian seismic vessel 190 mi. S of New Orleans.
Another summer of flight-seeing trips are started by the two DC-3s of ERA Classic Airlines in mid-May.
While on final approach to Anchorage on a May 25 service from Ke-nai, Flight 4857, a DHC-6-300 with two crew and two passengers hits a flock of birds; the aircraft crash-lands two mi. S of the runway. Although no injuries are reported, the plane is badly damaged.
A Bell 206B JetRanger with a pilot and two passengers fails its takeoff from the Greens Creek Mine, some 20 mi. S of Juneau, on June 9; the aircraft is badly damaged and 2 of the occupants receive minor injuries.
ERA employs 200 full-time pilots at the beginning of 2000. Stationed at Juneau International Airport, Alaska, to fly support and charter flights, the northern rotary-wing fleet includes 13 Bell 212s, plus a mix of 36 other helicopters. The fixed-wing fleet at Anchorage now comprises 5 CV-580s, 2 DC-3s, 2 each DHC-6-200s and DHC-8-100s, 5 DHC-6-300s, and 1 Bell 212 helicopter. Also at Anchorage, a Eurocopter BO-105 is assigned to ERA Aviation Lifeguard Alaska and employed for medevac flights. The Gulf Coast division operates a combined fleet of 50 helicopters, including numerous Bell 412s and BO-105s, plus 3 Sikorsky S-61Ns, 3 S-76A++s, and 1 Eurocopter AS-332L2 Super Puma. The latter 7 are capable of visiting energy platforms as much as 200 mi. offshore. Orders are outstanding for a pair of Sikorsky S-76A++s, the first of which is scheduled for delivery in early summer.
This year, the fire season is the worst in the U. S. West since 1994, with over 67,000 fires consuming in excess of 5 million acres in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, New Mexico, and Montana by midsummer.
Spectacular fires first grasp the attention of world viewers in May and June when television networks picture the huge fires rampaging through New Mexico, including the Los Alamos area where a nuclear facility is located. The Cerro Grande fire consumes over 47,650 acres of federal forest and wildlands in the Bandelier National Monument while the stubbord Viveash fire in Santa Fe National Forest burns over 30,000 acres. ERA is one of 10 civil helicopter operators assigning assets to the blazes; through June, one each of the company’s Bell 212s and Bell 412s have helped to contain all but the Viveash blaze.
World History
