Safety and Alaska's AIRWAYS.

• Author: ORR, VANESSA

Recent tragedies in the airline industry are foremost on many travelers' minds. It's good to know that in Alaska many airlines are moving beyond FAA standards to ensure the safety of crews and passengers.

Made up of 365 million-acres two time zones, and four distinct climatic zones, Alaska is an area so vast that often the only way to travel from one place to another is to fly--especially when one considers that there are fewer than 12,000 miles of paved roads available.

There are, however, airstrips--over 3,000 of them, including 600 public airports throughout the state. The airways are the true roads of Alaska, the ones on which air carriers from all over the state have come to depend. Yet as any pilot will tell you, flying in Alaska isn't like flying anywhere else; and for that reason, many of the companies who make flying their business go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to airline safety.

The Role of the FAA

Like air carriers in the Lower 48, airlines in Alaska answer to the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA. Their Flight Standards District Offices, located in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, are responsible for airline certification and regulation.

"The FAA provides a pretty substantial body of Flight Aviation Regulations, or FARs, that air carriers must follow," explained Jim Hettwer, aviation safety inspector for the Juneau Flight Standards District Office. Flight Aviation Regulations cover everything concerning air carriers--from requirements of management personnel, to pilot training to required equipment to maintenance.

"FARs are very specific about how to run an airline, but it is up to the operators themselves to have management people in place who have an adequate knowledge of FAA procedures and safe operating practices," said Hettwer. "While it is up to their management to follow the rules, the FAA performs both scheduled and unscheduled surveillance to ensure that airlines are following the general safety requirements." Scheduled surveillance is performed a minimum of every six months; unscheduled surveillance can take place anytime.

According to Hettwer, there are two types of actions that the FA A can undertake when they find violations of Flight Aviation Regulations. The first is an administrative action, which is used when they find minor types of violations, like a paperwork error. More serious is a legal enforcement action, which can result in suspension or revocation of a certificate, as well as...