Attracting corporate air travelers in Alaska: airlines offer improved amenities and fleets.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Conventions & Meetings

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One of the trending topics in the business world today is the "customer experience," and it's no different in corporate air travel, where airline businesses are vying to attract clients who travel throughout the state or to the Lower 48 on business. When sending company executives or employees to meetings, to on-site inspections, or to collaborate with other business partners, there are a number of things that those who book travel must keep in mind.

Safety is paramount, of course, especially in a state where treacherous terrain and changing weather can hamper travel efforts. The fact is that many businesses have facilities based in remote locations or locations that require specially configured aircraft to carry equipment or to land on a shorter runway, especially when heading to the North Slope or Bush communities. And comfort is always key, whether employees are taking a "short jaunt" from Anchorage to Fairbanks to attend a conference or are heading to the fishing grounds of Bristol Bay.

You Can Get There from Here

Unlike most places in the nation, where it's fairly easy to hop a plane, fly into a hub city, and then either transfer to another plane or take an alternative form of transportation to a destination, it sometimes takes a little more work when traveling in the Last Frontier. For this reason, many of Alaska's air carriers offer a range of options, including scheduled and charter service, and a wide variety of routes.

"It all depends on what a client needs; we have regularly scheduled departures throughout the state with between eighty-seven and ninety flights leaving every day--more so in seasonal or peak times," said Michael N. Wien, vice president of marketing, sales, and public relations for Ravn Air. "We also offer charter service, which allows us to be more flexible when working with corporate accounts. Between scheduled flights and charter flights, Ravn travels to well over one hundred different communities in Alaska.

"As Alaska's largest interior regional airline, we are very proud of our network," adds Wien, who says that the airline serves a wide variety of business clients from Alaska, the Lower 48, and around the world in fields ranging from the military and government to oil and gas, tourism, and seafood. "For example, I just finished working with a charter group that wanted to see as much of Alaska as they could by aircraft; through our network, we can give them that flexibility," Wien says.

As one of the only carriers in Alaska that covers the entire state with a fleet of all twin-engine aircraft, Security Aviation provides about 1,400 flights a year to clients wanting to travel from the tip of the Aleutians to the North Slope, Southeast, Central Alaska, Canada, and even the Lower 48. "We operate this fleet specifically due to the requirements of our customers, many of whose safety regulations require twin engines and two pilots," explains Jason Ward, vice president of sales and marketing, Security Aviation. "Because of this, and the fact that...