Alpine Air Express plans to grow turboprop conversion program

Provo, Utah-based Alpine Air Express plans to significantly grow its Beech 1900D conversion program with the addition of new conversion centers in North America and Europe, CEO Michael Dancy told our sister publication, Air Cargo World , on Friday. The carrier, which operates about forty-three small turboprops for customers including the United States Postal Service and UPS, expanded into passenger-to-freighter conversions after receiving its Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from the Federal Aviation Administration in November 2018. To support its expansion plans, Alpine Air recently acquired a new private equity investor in AE Industrial Partners, which acquired a majority interest in the operator-turned-engineering firm. The carrier has already nearly doubled its fleet size since 2014 with support from its previous partner, KEB Enterprises. Alpine Air CEO Michael Dancy said that with support from AE Industrial Partners, he expects Alpine Air to double or triple in size again within the next few years. To that end, Alpine Air plans to grow the number of conversion centers for its Beech 1900D program from the current two – one in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a second at its Provo, Utah, base – to around six in total, including an additional US center, one in mainland Europe, and two in Canada. Feedstock for the type is plentiful, as Alpine Air has the only STC for conversions, and Dancy estimated that about 350 of the aircraft were manufactured in passenger configuration. The Beechcraft turboprops operated by Alpine Air range in size from the smaller Beech 99s to Beech 1900C and 1900D. The fleet is engaged in what Dancy called the “last air mile” feeder service connecting major and regional airports for express and e-commerce cargo (particularly on behalf of integrator UPS) in the western US. Distinct from larger turboprop freighters such as those covered in the Cargo Facts regional jet freighter fleet analysis , Beech aircraft are operated by only one pilot, which “addresses the massive pilot shortage,” Dancy sai d. Regional carriers have been hit especially hard by the global pilot shortage – potentially making the larger one-pilot Beech 1900D quite attractive for express feeder service. Other express operators have taken different approaches, as can be seen with FedEx’s launch last year of the “Purple Runway” pilot development program in cooperation with regional carriers Mountain Air Cargo and Empire Airlines.

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