My experience with Wright Air was good. Everything went according to plan. I was happy now reflecting back on my roundtrip flight from the local airport in Fairbanks and flying to Bettles, Alaska.
I can't tell you the exact price of my airfare as it was an all-inclusive package that I received with the Bettles Lodge (who were the ones that booked me).
If I had to guess roughly how much it cost...I'd say in the range of $500 - $600. That's actually how much I'm paying for the same type of flight and service next week when I depart Anchorage and head to the small town of Port Alsworth, Alaska.
For my 9am flight, I was told to arrive at 7:30am. When I checked-in, I had a mini suitcase with me along with a backpack. Both items were weighed and passed inspection so I never had to pay extra fees.
Then they actually asked me to step onto the scale and have myself weighed. That was something I had never done...and I have taken plenty of propeller planes along my travels. But, better to be safe than sorry when weighing and balancing out the aircraft properly.
Speaking of propeller planes, yes, that's what you'll find here at Wright Air. They run Alaskan Bush Planes and services to all remote parts of Alaska.
And, of course, it's quite fitting to have a local airline like Wright Air because Alaska is a huge state and there's plenty of off the beaten path destinations to explore.
For parking...you leave your car in the lot across the street. I initially saw signs that it's $4 a day to park...but just starting this month of July they raised prices to $5 a day.
For payments...just like you do with camping...there's a white envelope to fill out and you can either leave cash, write out a check or put down your credit card numbers. Then you drop the envelope into a deposit box.
Almost forgot...with my small suitcase and even my backpack...at the ticket counter, they took both my items to load onto the plane themselves. And that's understandable as there was very tiny space once inside the aircraft.
But upon realizing they were handling my backpack, I took my passport that was located in a zippered side-pouch and held onto it myself. If anything happened to my passport, I'd never be able to get access back through Canada for my return trip to the Lower 48.
I was told to come back to the waiting room at 8:30am for the 9am departure.
9am finally came and a gentleman called out my name and a few others and we headed over to our plane.
Before stepping onto the aircraft I asked this gentleman to take a photo of myself and the plane which he kindly did.
Next thing I knew this guy hopped into the pilots seat. Wow, cool. This guy did it all!
The plane had 3 rows with 1 seat on the left-hand side and a double seat for 2 people on the right hand side. It accommodated 9 passengers in total.
I had 6 people on the flight so I had a double seat all to myself to spread out on. Nice.
It was a little over a 1-hour flight from Fairbanks to Bettles. Everything went smoothly even with all the horrible smoke in the air from the wildfires happening around Alaska for this summer of 2022.
After exiting the aircraft in Bettles, my bags were right beside the plane waiting for me and before I knew it this pilot did the quickest turnaround and was already on the runway heading back to Fairbanks.
For the return trip...it was another good experience. My flight was on time and the pilot was friendly and trustworthy.
Lastly, almost forgot...when I checked into the Wright Air Aviation House, I was not screened nor did I have to pass through a security sensor.
But...this is normal when flying little prop aircraft.
In the end, Wright Air Service did their job. They got me to and from Bettles, Alaska safely and without an incident. For that I am grateful.
Thank you Wright Air! read more