My first concert was Cyndi Lauper with The Bangles opening - my brother took me when I was in high school.

He was the coolest brother ever, obviously!

Yes! Her articles are outstanding.

Good lord.

Figure around x3 wounded, and that is very conservative.

42/

I haven't look hard at all into ATRs in conditions like AK, but I will. It's an opportunity to go back over the ATR history which is terrible and has a lot to say about the FAA and politics and everything else that gets sucked into aviation safety discussions.

Part of what's tricky here is the aircraft deals - leasing the aircraft vs owning it, and how that relates to cost. And in AK, the routes matter a lot as far as competition.

But yeah, I haven't dug deep into this one yet, other than just providing some basic info on the ownership for folks.

Here ya go - some thoughts! bsky.app/profile/chas...

Oh, and the Argentum Chief Pilot - who is very active on social media - is also a captain at Argentum and the mayor of Pembroke Pines, FL. Here's a little bit about him from last May in a FL news outlet.

I've got nothing else to say after reading this. www.local10.com/news/local/2...

Clearly, Argentum is trying to capitalize in AK on the demise of what was Ravn and they are keeping Aleutian on the routes where they know the ATRs can't succeed. For me, it comes down to what AK Air thinks/does & if Argentum can survive financially.

Since the days of the MarkAir vs Alaska Air wars, every 121 airline that has tried to go head to head with AK Airlines in the state of Alaska has failed. Ravn was destroyed by it & so was the part of Ravn that was bought out of bankruptcy by what became New Pacific. (Don't get me started on that.)

Aleutian's website says all the things you would expect them to say about how this is going to be glorious and successful. (Nothing wrong with that, just nothing new, either.) A key thing: Saabs seat ~50, ATRs about 70. That is good & bad. flyaleutian.com/2025/08/aleu...

Now, Wexford owns Sterling & Silver & has changed its name to Argentum and the Aleutian Airways brand which is maintaining likely due to aircraft because the ATRs are on the Silver/Argentum certificate whereas the Sterling/Aleutian certificate has the Saabs. (I told you it was exhausting.)

Aleutian Airways is part of Sterling Airways, also owned primarily by Wexford Capital; it just operates in AK as Aleutian. When it began, Alaska Seaplanes seemed to more than just the folks selling tickets for them, now, not so much. Here's info on that from 2022. www.akbizmag.com/industry/tra...

This is kind of exhausting to unpack, but Argentum is backed by Wexford Capital which bought the old FL-based Silver Airways out of bankruptcy. Silver's certificate is the one Argentum is operating under. Here's some info on that: aviationsourcenews.com/argentum-air...

You guys are awesome. ❤️