Alaska 135 operators to avoid?
 

As January rolls around I'm getting my resume prepped to handout to Grant, Ravn, Ryan, Yute, Ace, and any other 135 operators I can find on the ground in Alaska.

Are there any carriers with bad reputations that I should avoid because of accidents, maintenance, minimums etc?

I haven't heard great things about Yute or Grant so I'm a little wary of those operators already but I figured I'd check it out myself and see how it is. Would appreciate some input!

If anyone is wondering 600ish TT meet 135 vfr mins.

P.S Anyway to check a companies list of all accidents / emergencies? I know Alaska is not a forgiving place to fly so I don't want to make it any more dangerous than it needs to be!

Even though you meet 135 VFR minimums, you probably won’t get a job offer anywhere in Alaska with those times. However, you might qualify for a SIC position at Hageland (Ravn Connect). Last I heard, the pile of apps was thick and even if you know someone there, it’s still hard to get a spot.

Met with some Ravn folks at a recruiting event. ~600TT, 135 mins, all Alaska time. Said I wouldn’t get in without internal recs, and it’d still be tough with some.

Unfortunately you don't have the flight time to be picky. Flood the area with your resume and take whatever comes up. As soon as you hit the magic IFR time then start looking for something better. Or even start looking as soon as you get that first job.

In the meant time don't do anything stupid.

There are plenty of sled operators that are desperate enough to hire at mins, like someone else said he won’t be able to be picky however.

Don’t rule out Everts Air Cargo. They’ve got a 135 operation based in Fairbanks. They also operate a EMB120 in the lower 48 under their 135 certificate.

Run a check by operator here:

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/index.aspx

Won’t give you every emergency but it’ll give you the serious stuff.

The readout ought to look like this:

https://i.ibb.co/cNrQ5zL/F19987-F3-5...-EC5009-FA.jpg

I would avoid Yute Commuter/Renfro's out of Bethel