GRANT AIRWAYS: P. O. Box 92200, 203 West 15th Ave., Anchorage, Alaska 99501, United States; Phone (907) 248-7031; Fax (907) 248-6416; Code GS; Year Founded 1994. This new Alaskan regional is established by Bruce McGlasson at Anchorage in 1994 to offer light-plane passenger and cargo services. A total of 9,014 passengers are flown during the initial year.
Airline employment stands at 8 in 1995 and the fleet includes 2 Cessna 207As and 1 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain.
Enplanements increase 75% to 15,809 and swell 10% in 1996 to 17,401.
President McGlasson in 1997 operates 5 Cessna 207As, 3 Navajos, 1 Beech 18 freighter, and 1 Cessna 172. Enplanements total 18,012 passengers, an increase of 3.5% over the previous year.
Business dramatically improves during 1998 as customer bookings increase 66.1% to 30,000.
Flights continue in 1999. While en route from Bethel on a December 7 service to Nightmute, Toksook, and Tununak, Flight 261, a Cessna 207A with a pilot and five passengers, crashes into remote, snow-covered terrain some 49 mi. W of the point of origin. There are no survivors. Despite an intensive air search, the wreckage is not found until the next day.
While taking off from Bethel on a December 24 service to Chefornak, Flight 281, a Cessna 207A with a pilot and five passengers, collides with snow-covered terrain. The pilot suffers minor injuries and none of the passengers are hurt, but the aircraft is badly damaged.
Despite these two incidents at year’s end, customer bookings for the year as a whole increase another 76.2% to 53,000.
A total of 27 full-time and 9 part-time pilots are employed at the beginning of 2000.
While landing at Emmonak after a September 14 service from Alakanuk, the right landing strut of Flight 166, a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo with a pilot and three passengers, collapses, causing the aircraft to stop and tip onto its right wing. Although the aircraft suffers substantial damage, no one aboard is hurt.
World History
