Regional carrier Ravn Alaska can trace its history back to the late 1940s, when it came into existence as Economy Helicopters. The airline has seen many changes since then, and even had to suspend operations in 2020 due to COVID-19. It is now back up and running with a selection of turboprop aircraft. Going forward, it may have desires to expand its fleet.

Dominated by the Dash 8-100

According to data from ch-aviation.com, there are presently 11 aircraft in Ravn Alaska's fleet. All of these are turboprops from the de Havilland Canada/Bombardier Dash 8 series, with 10 being examples of the smallest 8-100 variant. At the time of writing, seven were active, with two stored in Anchorage. The final example was undergoing maintenance in Muskoka.

Ravn Alaska's Dash 8-100s are not the youngest aircraft, clocking in at 29.25 years old on average. They each seat 37 passengers in a four-abreast (2-2) configuration that is fairly standard for this version of the popular turboprop. They arrived between August 2000 and March 2016. Historically speaking, Ravn has operated four more Dash 8-100s.

Looking at the carrier's oldest and youngest aircraft, the most senior is N886EA. Clocking in at 31.6 years old, this particular Dash 8-100 had accrued 44,653 hours across 51,217 cycles as of September 2021. At the other end of the scale, N880EA is 'just' 27.08 years old. It has clocked up 53,973 flight hours across an impressive 59,608 cycles during this time.

Ravn Alaska Dash 8-100
N889EA was the only Ravn Alaska plane in maintenance at the time of writing. It is nearly 30 years old. Photo: Nathan Coats via Wikimedia Commons

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A single Dash 8-300

The 11th and final Dash 8 turboprop in the present Ravn Alaska fleet is an example of the larger 8-300 variant. Registered as N151RA, this 26.9-year-old aircraft seats 50 economy class passengers in the standard four-abreast layout. In nearly 27 years of operational service, it has accrued 33,266 flight hours across 34,186 cycles (as of September 2021).

N151RA entered service with South African Express in 1995, before moving to Air Namibia the following year. Since then, it has also flown for Pena Transportes Aéreos, Piedmont Airlines, and Voyageur Airways. It joined Ravn fairly recently, in July 2021. According to data from RadarBox.com, it is typically deployed on services to the likes of Unalaska and Kenai.

Ravn Alaska eSTOL
The airline signed a deal for 50 eSTOL aircraft in June 2021. Photo: Ravn Alaska

Plans to expand and diversify the fleet

While Ravn Alaska's fleet is presently very uniform, it has plans for diversification and expansion up its sleeve. For instance, June 2020 saw the carrier sign a deal for 50 carbon-neutral eSTOL aircraft. The company that it has consulted on the matter is Airflow. Such aircraft would be ideal for its flights, given the small, remote Alaskan airports that it serves.

That same month, it also emerged that the airline's parent company, FLOAT Alaska, had ambitions to establish a low-cost startup using Boeing 757s. Known as Northern Pacific Airways, it has acquired six of these narrowbody twinjets, and has already begun recruiting staff. Based in Anchorage, it is eyeing Tokyo, Osaka, and Seoul as its initial routes in 2022.

What do you make of Ravn Alaska's current fleet? Have you ever flown with this regional airline? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!