note

Airline was founded by Bob Reeve in 1932 in Valdez using Fairchild 51 aircraft. As its name implies, bulk of its business was serving 1,500 nautical miles long chain of Aleutian Islands, the most remote part of United States. In 1946 Bob Reeve purchased its first Douglas DC-3 which enabled it to operate in the Aleutian Islands. Company was incorporated in March 1947 as Reeve Aleutian Airways. There are military installations: US Navy station at Adak and USAF radar at Shemya Island and fishing villages in between. In 1952 Reeve bought Pacific Airmotive's Alaska business which was servicing their aircraft and renamed it Reeve Airmotive. Airline's traffic has always been seasonal with over half of its annual traffic of 50,000 boardings being done between June and September. Airline also had to deal with highly directional freight traffic. RAA thrived in its niche market, because of their aircraft being second hand and paid off. It had little or no competition in the region where it operated and exceptional resourcefulness and know-how its employees and Reeve family. During summer months RAA operated service from Cold Bay's 10,000 foot runway to Seattle 3 times a week between 1979 and 1984. Boeing 727s and L-188s were used on this route. Aging aircraft and high fuel cost forced airline to cease operations in December 2000 and all its aircraft were sold by March 2001.

founded - demised (age)

November 15 1932 - March 2001  (69)

headquarters

4700 W. International Airport Rd. 99502, Anchorage, AK

web

reeveair.com

base airports

PANC Ted Stevens International Anchorage
PACD Cold Bay

related operators

Reeve Air Alaska