Corporate travel Alaska style: Far and wide, Alaska's businessmen and businesswomen take flight.

• Author: Bonham, Nicole A.
• Position: Statistical Data Included

The ease of getting from here to there in Alaska has never been so effortless. With literally dozens of small and large air carriers and charter companies serving all corners of the state, the breadth of Alaska's frontier is at times more a state of mind than logistical hindrance.

Even within the state, to simply meet a client, perform routine field work or visit a satellite office typically requires crossing great distances. At the same time, Alaska's legions of government, fish and oil workers clog the airways en route to the nation's West and East coasts and Texas.

Perhaps it's no surprise then that corporate travel figures high on the transportation industry's barometer, with Alaska's executives and workers earning their wings with immeasurable time airborne.

FREQUENT FLIERS

Say "corporate travel" in the Lower 48 and it conjures up images of business class snacks before takeoff; of suited travelers who promptly stow their jackets and pull out a laptop; of airport weary commuters who quickly discard their pumps and wingtips for comfortable sneakers, a sleep mask and the requisite bottled water.

In Alaska, the concept might be the same, but the traveler is not your average "suit"-and is typically not en route to yet another crowded convention.

"We have corporate travelers on our airline-but with a slightly different look than customary," says Kip Knudson, general manager of FBO/Facilities for Era Aviation Inc.

"For example, the regional airline routes serving Kenai and Homer provide commuting transportation for hundreds of North Slope workers," Knudson says. "In the winter, this traffic accounts for up to 70 percent of our business in some markets."

Similarly, the corporate traveler in Alaska might be a field engineer, an oil expert, commercial crab fisherman, Native corporation executive or rural medical technician, according to Alaska aviation executives like Security Aviation's Mike O'Neal.

Security Aviation, serving a large segment of the state's corporate travelers, offers specialty service for business clients who need to get where they want, when they want-with emphasis on safe travel, O'Neal says. The air-charter company receives the highest ratings for safety by government agencies and earned the prestigious Administrator's Award from the Federal Aviation Administration for 15 years of accident-free operation. Security Aviation makes "safety" a key factor in its strategy and, as a result, has developed a corporate client list that includes the likes of the U.S. Air Force, Bureau of Land Management and FAA personnel.

For other companies, the corporate share of the market is a relatively small, but still important aspect of full service.

"Realistically, I would say about 10 to 15 percent of PenAir's passengers are traveling on corporate business," says Linda Bustamante, marketing director for the Anchorage-based airline, considered the largest commuter airline in the state and the last Grumman Goose operator in the U.S. PenAir services 36 communities in Southwestern Alaska.

"We have an interesting mix of passengers," she says, describing her client base as mostly local residents of Southwestern Alaska, followed by employees and crews of the commercial fishing industry, then tourists and other corporate travelers. "If you include government employees with corporate, I would add agencies like Fish and Game, the FAA and the Department of Transportation to our frequent fliers."

So where are all these folk headed? Aside from...