Flying in Bush Alaska

I just recently got back to the village from the holiday break, and as I was leaving for the lower 48 I decided to take some video showing the basic Bush Alaska flying experience. There are two airlines in my village: Era and Pen Air. I mainly fly Pen Air to get to Anchorage because I've found some good deals with them and they fly earlier in the day. However, Era also flies to Anchorage, and is the actual popular airline off of the current Discovery show "Flying Wild in Alaska."

I wasn't able to see the first episode air on January 5th, but basically they filmed the show in my village from July to November 2010. So if you tune into the show, almost all of it takes place where I live. What's unique about Era is that they do so much more than just basic passenger flights. I'm not an expert on the company, but I imagine you could probably learn a lot from watching the show. The only time I've actually flown on Era was on a small charter plane....2 hours, no bathroom, and no complimentary drink or snack.....but that's how most charters are out here.

And that's my experience so far with Era, when it comes to Pen Air, their planes seat about 25 people (again, don't quote me on that), and provide the basic in-flight services that every airline does (except no movies). As I was flying back to the village yesterday, a man was actually kicked off the plane in Anchorage for being too intoxicated. So I guess the rule of thumb is that if you plan on flying into the village, and you show up obviously drunk, they won't let you fly. Most villages are either dry (no booze) or damp (you can order booze in, but no one can sell it in the village...my village is damp), so it makes sense that you're not allowed to fly into the village if you're hammered.

Below is my first intro-video to flying in Bush Alaska: