Alpine Air Express
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Founded | 1971 | ||||||
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Parent company | AE Industrial Partners [1] | ||||||
Headquarters | Provo, Utah, United States | ||||||
Key people |
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Website | alpine-air |
Alpine Air Express is an American airline based in Provo, Utah.[2][3] It operates scheduled and chartered air cargo services on over 100 routes throughout Utah, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, California, and Colorado.
History
The airline was established in 1971 and received its
While Alpine Air was performing scheduled passenger operations in the 1980s and 1990s, it served the following cities in Utah, Colorado, and Nevada:
- Blanding, UT
- Cedar City, UT
- Delta, UT
- Duchesne, UT
- Ely, NV
- Grand Junction, CO
- Green River, UT
- Manti, UT
- Moab, UT
- Monroe, UT
- Monticello, UT
- Mt. Pleasant, UT
- Nephi, UT
- Price, UT
- Provo, UT
- Richfield, UT
- Roosevelt, UT
- Salina, UT
- Salt Lake City, UT
- St. George, UT
- Vernal, UT
Some cities were served by Scenic Aviation and Castle Valley Aviation, on-demand charter services operating on behalf of Alpine Air. [5]
In 2001, the company began their shift towards a larger cargo presence with their first public trade of stock and their first Beech 1900 being placed into service. It was this same year which they commenced operations out of their new Provo facility.[4]
The airline tried to establish Alpine Air Chile,[6] in an attempt to enter Chile's air freight market. The project was not successful and was discontinued in 2005, with three Beechcraft 1900C being re-integrated into the US fleet.[7]
Alpine Air Express now currently only operates CFR Part 135 scheduled and chartered[8] cargo operations.
Fleet
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/AlpineAirExpressBeech99JacksonHole.jpg/355px-AlpineAirExpressBeech99JacksonHole.jpg)
The Alpine Air Express fleet includes the following aircraft.
Aircraft | In fleet |
---|---|
Raytheon Beech 1900C | 30 |
Raytheon Beech 1900D | 22 |
Beechcraft Model 99 | 14 |
Beechcraft Super King Air | 1 |
Cessna 208 Caravan | 1 |
Total | 68 |
Acquisition and Expansion
As of May 2019,
In April 2020, Alpine Air Express purchased assets of the defunct
In December 2022, Alpine Air Express acquired Suburban Air Freight, another CFR Part-135 cargo airline based in Omaha, NE .[10] Suburban Air, like Alpine, has a majority Beech 1900 fleet allowing for easy integration of maintenance and operations.
Incidents
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2020) |
In October 1992, an Alpine Air PA-42 deviated off course and crashed into a mesa in Grand Junction, Colorado, while operating as an airtaxi flight. There were three fatalities: the pilot and two passengers.
August 2004 – While operating a Billings to Kalispell, Montana, flight for the US Postal Service, the Beech 99 crashed into Big Baldy mountain, located near Great Falls. Two crewmembers died.[11][12]
January 2008—An Alpine Air Raytheon Beech 1900 crashed into the Pacific Ocean on a cargo flight between Honolulu International Airport and Lihue Intl in Hawaii. This crash claimed one life: the pilot of the aircraft.[13][14][15]
May 2008—Upon departure from Billings, ATC instructed the Beech 1900C to turn left. The Part 135 cargo plane slowly turned right and crashed into a warehouse nearby. Witnesses say the plane was inverted prior to the crash which claimed the life of the single pilot on board.[16][17]
In February 2010, a cargo door came unlatched on an airborne Alpine Air Express
References
- ^ https://www.aviationnews-online.com/cargo/ae-industrial-partners-acquires-majority-interest-in-alpine-air-express/ AE Industrial Partners acquires majority interest in Alpine Air Express
- ^ "ABOUT". alpine-air.com. Alpine Air Express. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
- ^ "Route Map". Wix. June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ a b "About". Alpine Air Express. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ Alpine Air timetable April 1, 1992
- ^ Alpine Air Chile code data at planespotters.net
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. March 27, 2007. p. 74.
- ^ "Join Us | Alpine Air". Alpine Air Express. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ Partners, AE Industrial. "AE Industrial Partners Acquires Alpine Air Express". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ Express, Alpine Air (December 30, 2022). "Alpine Air Express acquires Suburban Air Freight". Aero Crew News. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ a b "Cargo door opens on mail plane mid-flight to Kalispell". missoulian.com. Billings Gazette. February 25, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ "Hawaii mail plane crashes, pilot missing". the.honoluluadvertiser.com. The Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ Sullivan, B. N. (January 22, 2008). "NTSB reports on Alpine Air crash in Hawaii". Aircrew Buzz. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft 1900C-1 N410UB Lihue, HI". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ Johnson, Clair (May 22, 2008). "Mail plane crashes near Main Street in Billings; pilot killed". The Billings Gazette. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft 1900C N195GA Billings-Logan International Airport, MT (BIL)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 8, 2020.