Again, remembering that I work all the islands here for real estate, there are occasions when my schedule or the nature of my trip simply prohibits the luxury of a leisurely ferry ride with Romeo or perhaps I need to be on a non-ferry serviced island in a timely fashion. Every so often I will do a real estate transaction in out of the way locales such as Port Townsend or Whidbey Island or I will face time constraints for quick mainland appointments in Skagit or Whatcom counties. On these occasions, Island Air comes to the rescue.

Since the early 1990’s, Island Air has provided charter services out of the Friday Harbor Airport to not only outer islands, but throughout the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. This classy little operation has earned a reputation for unparalleled personal service and a remarkable safety record. Island Air is one of the largest woman-owned and managed air carriers in the United States.

Over the course of the years I have flown with nearly every one of Island Air’s pilots. Some flights were more memorable than others. These folks have become my friends.

Alan has helped with some challenging aerial photography and Lopez born and bred Ashley is particularly savvy at getting around these islands. I enjoy flying with Island Air’s owner, Jackie, as there is something to be said for camaraderie among professional women.

However, I will typically fly with Tom since he is especially tolerant of my unique needs and requests. Tom has more than once patiently assisted my 83 year old Mother as I have been known to take her with me, if appropriate, when she is visiting.

On a recent flight with Tom and my Mother to preview a spectacular waterfront estate, our arrival back at Island Air coincided with Jackie landing a King Air 200. On the drive home that day I queried my Mother as to what she thought of the property. No stranger to Pacific Northwest waterfront properties — or small aircraft, for that matter — my Mother’s response was: “It was very nice, but I was particularly impressed with that woman flying the King Air…”

Providing a superior and valuable service to these islands, I simply cannot imagine life here without these people.

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Tags: Flights to the San Juan Islands, San Juan Islands Air Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 at 4:50 pm and is filed under Island Living, Island Transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.