Officials with commuter airlines Frontier Alaska and Era Aviation said they will combine the companies to act as one airline.
Operating under a holding company named HoTH Inc., Frontier signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the common stock of Era Aviation Inc. The deal was announced Feb. 17.
Era's airline operation will become part of HoTH's air group holdings, which currently do business under the name Frontier Alaska.
HoTH is owned by John Hajdukovich, Mike Hageland and James Tweto, and is the holding company for Frontier Flying Service Inc. and Hageland Aviation Services Inc.
Combining the two airlines will benefit the traveling public and the employees, said Bob Hajdukovich, chief executive officer of HoTH.
"This deal not only complements what we already do, but allows for upside growth of our ... operations while strengthening our connectivity to rural communities, which is so important to us," Hajdukovich said. "Era operations will allow us to right-size the aircraft to our markets. Era has an excellent safety record and culture that will complement our strategic goals of developing a statewide network of professional airlines that set the standard for safe operations."
Hageland Aviation and Frontier Flying Service joined forces on Jan. 14, 2008, after years of fierce competition in rural Alaska. The company operates as Frontier Alaska.
Bob Hajdukovich will become the chief executive officer of Era upon completion of the acquisition, expected on Feb. 27. Hajdukovich will be tasked with integrating Era's operations with current Frontier Alaska operations.
Era's current chief executive officer, W. Stephen Jackson, said the acquisition is an good decision for HoTH. "(It) will enable the combined entities to provide ever higher levels of safety and service to customers along with greater financial stability for employees," he said.
The combined HoTH air group will employ approximately 700 people while annually transporting more than 600,000 passengers, 5 million pounds of freight and 24 million pounds of mail.
Expected annual revenue of the combined group should exceed $100 million, according to a written release announcing the deal
Rob Stapleton can be reached at rob.stapleton@alaskajournal.com.
