Would-be investor drops Alaska’s Hageland Aviation Services

Hageland Aviation Services (H6, Saint Mary’s) has withdrawn a notice of intent to resume operations after its new owner lost interest after failing to sell off the defunct Alaskan carrier.

Hageland’s legal counsel Mark W. Atwood said in a regulatory notice filed with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) that the airline’s owner, supply chain solutions provider, Ascent Global Logistics (AGL), had attempted to sell Hageland to a prospective buyer, but those negotiations had ended. “AGL has expended money and effort to preserve Hageland as a going concern and return it to service, but has decided not to pursue the resumption of flight operations given the additional expense involved,” he said.

Hageland thus has no objection to the DOT’s dismissal of its January 7, 2021, application to restart operations. It requested that the DOT end its ongoing proceedings to determine Hageland’s operational fitness.

In view of the withdrawal notice, Hageland also did not intend to address claims by Tatonduk Outfitters Ltd. d/b/a Everts Air Alaska (5V, Fairbanks Int’l), which on August 9, 2021, had filed a second motion with the DOT to have Hageland’s certificates of public convenience and necessity revoked and its application to resume operations dismissed. Everts Air Alaska had argued that the application was inappropriate under the law as Hageland had been dormant for more than a year and its submitted income statements had not met the legal requirements.

As reported, Hageland and Frontier Flying Service (FTA, Fairbanks Int’l) – both subsidiaries of the RavnAir Group – ceased operations on April 4, 2020, when the parent company went out of business.

In late November 2020, AGL acquired the dormant Hageland. In January 2021, it had filed an application with the DOT to use Hageland’s Operating License and Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) to start a new brand called Rambler Air (H6, Anchorage Lake Hood SPB).

According to its January filing, Hageland would have resumed flights under the new brand with eight Piper (twin piston) PA-31s acquired by AGL through the RavnAir Group’s liquidation, as well as three Beech 1900Ds. Routes planned included Anchorage Ted Stevens to Kenai and Homer, plus from Fairbanks Int’l to Galena (via Ruby) and Fort Yukon.