On 5 August 2025, Ravn Alaska shut down operations for the second—and last—time.
The Anchorage-based regional provider, lengthy thought-about a cornerstone of Alaska’s intra-state connectivity, quietly folded after practically 77 years of service. Its collapse leaves behind a fragmented regional community and raises issues concerning the long-term viability of rural air service in one of the aviation-dependent areas on this planet.
The corporate’s final flight, operated between Valdez Airport (VDZ) and Ted Stevens Anchorage Worldwide Airport (ANC), touched down with out ceremony. Days later, the airline’s web site displayed a last assertion: “We recognize the years of service we had been in a position to present to Alaska communities. Whereas we’re not working flights in Alaska, we’re grateful for the belief you positioned in us throughout our time serving the area.”
Present CEO Tom Hsieh confirmed to the Anchorage Every day Information that each one flights “have been canceled.” No official determine has been launched on job losses, although the provider employed a minimum of 270 individuals on the time of closure.
From Bush Beginnings to Regional Mainstay
Ravn’s origins stretch again to 1948, when pilot Carl Brady based Economic system Helicopters. Underneath US authorities contracts, Brady flew Bell 47s to map Alaska’s huge and unmapped inside (bear in mind: Alaska wasn’t granted statehood till 1959). Within the Fifties, the corporate grew to become Period Helicopters, and in 1967, it was bought by Houston-based offshore drilling contractor Rowan Firms. Initially used to assist oil exploration and the development of the Alyeska Pipeline, Period expanded into fixed-wing operations with De Havilland Twin Otters and Convair 580s to serve remoted cities.
By 1983, Period Aviation had developed right into a scheduled passenger provider, connecting communities resembling Valdez, Kenai, Kodiak, Cordova, Bethel, and Homer. Over the next a long time, an internet of mergers—together with Hageland Aviation and Corvus Airways—and acquisitions such because the 2017 buy of defunct Yute Air’s belongings, fashioned what grew to become generally known as the Ravn Air Group.
Rebranded Ravn Alaska in 2014, the airline at its peak operated greater than 70 plane to over 100 locations, together with many communities accessible solely by air. Its fleet historical past is a cross-section of Alaskan bush flying itself: Beechcraft 1900s, Cessna Caravans and 207s, Piper Navajos, Twin Otters, Convair 580s, Sprint 7s, and eventually, its core fleet of Sprint 8-100s and -300s.
Ravn Alaska Fleet Historical past (1948–2025)
Turbulence Throughout the Pandemic
In April 2020, COVID-19 grounded Ravn’s fleet and compelled a Chapter 11 chapter submitting. The sudden halt stranded hundreds in rural Alaska, prompting state and federal companies to scramble for emergency service suppliers.
The airline’s belongings had been bought later that yr by California-based FLOAT Shuttle, which relaunched Ravn in late 2020 with a trimmed-down fleet of Sprint 8-100s and a renewed give attention to scheduled passenger service to 12 core locations.
Modernization Goals, Unmet
Underneath FLOAT possession, Ravn leaned right into a sustainability narrative, asserting a 2021 letter of intent for 50 electrical brief takeoff and touchdown (eSTOL) plane from Airflow. This was adopted by an MOU with ZeroAvia to discover hydrogen-electric retrofits for its Sprint 8 fleet. Whereas the bulletins generated business buzz, neither undertaking reached implementation earlier than the airline’s last grounding.
Retrenchment and Fleet Stress
By 2024, warning indicators had returned. Ravn trimmed service to components of the Aleutians, laid off 130 workers, and withdrew from sure Important Air Service (EAS) routes. Then, in early 2025, the airline knowledgeable the US Division of Transportation of a “vital and unanticipated” discount in accessible plane after Canadian lessor Avmax declined to resume leases on a number of Sprint 8-100s.
With few viable replacements available in the market and capital constraints limiting choices, the community quickly unraveled.
A Silent Departure
The ultimate shutdown got here with little public forewarning. On 5 August 2025, Ravn stopped all flights and quietly knowledgeable regulators and companions. The rapidity of the exit contrasted sharply with the high-profile 2020 grounding.
Ravn was the artery between the bush and the world. When it stopped, every little thing slowed down.
Former Ravn Alaska pilot
For a lot of in rural Alaska, the impression was quick. As one former pilot described, “Ravn was the artery between the bush and the world. When it stopped, every little thing slowed down.”
Mum or dad Firm: New Pacific’s Narrower Horizons
Ravn’s guardian firm, New Pacific Airways, stays operational however in drastically scaled-back type. Initially launched in 2022 underneath the title Northern Pacific Airways, the startup aimed to copy the Icelandair mannequin by connecting North America and Asia by means of Anchorage with a fleet of growing old Boeing 757-200s, initially delivered to USAir within the early Nineteen Nineties. Nonetheless, persistent regulatory delays and shifting market situations have stored the airline from launching scheduled service. At the moment, New Pacific operates solely constitution flights.
Curiously, New Pacific’s personal company heritage traces again to Ravn’s roots, based on 20 June 1948, as Economic system Helicopters. In a twist of aviation lineage, the identical entity that started with a single Bell helicopter mapping Alaska has ended its scheduled passenger operations, now surviving solely by means of its constitution division.
Implications for Rural Aviation
Ravn’s demise underscores the fragility of high-cost, low-margin regional aviation in excessive geographies. Alaska’s huge distances, unpredictable climate, and heavy reliance on air service make carriers notably susceptible to fluctuations in gas prices, plane availability, and labor markets.
Whereas carriers resembling Ryan Air, Grant Aviation, and Alaska Airways’ Ravn Join companions have stepped in to cowl sure routes, no operator matches Ravn’s former scale. The long-term penalties for rural connectivity stay unsure.
For a lot of its historical past, many Alaskans thought-about Ravn not simply an airline however a part of their state’s infrastructure. Its flight schedules had been the lifeblood of villages, clinics, and provide chains throughout a state the place street entry is the exception, not the rule.
The Alaska skies are quieter now, however the want Ravn as soon as met stays: pressing, fixed, and nonetheless and not using a clear resolution.
