A peek into a pilot’s day supporting people deep in the Alaskan bush
Republished from Saltchuk Aviation’s April 2025 30,000 Feet, Stories from across our skies, newsletter
While many people once dreamed of being a pilot when they grew up, few could have envisioned the real-life role Bill Wilson plays as the station manager for Ryan Air in Aniak, Alaska.
Nestled along the Kuskokwim River, about 350 miles from Anchorage, with a population hovering around 500 people, Aniak can only be reached by air for much of the year. The nearest “big” hub that accommodates commercial airplanes is Bethel, just under 100 miles away.
“We’re small communities; we all have to wear a lot of hats,” Bill says.
“One guy I know in Anvik is the agent who meets the airplanes. He’s also the mayor, runs the electric company and the water company, does maintenance for the school, and does the airline turns. You find your spot in the net of the community where you can fill a hole to help keep everything working.”
Bill wears his fair share of hats, too. He spent time as Aniak’s mayor and is a pastor, along with piloting people and products all over the Alaskan bush. While Ryan Air flights typically haul freight and mail to the region’s rural communities, Aniak serves as the only FBO in the area, meaning Bill’s daily route and precious cargo is even more varied than some.
So, just how does a pilot spend a typical workday in Alaska’s backcountry? We asked Bill to share what it’s like being a trusted lifeline connecting communities to the things that matter most.
Bill Wilson, station manager for Ryan Air in Aniak, Alaska
I can’t believe they pay me to do this job. You can’t beat it—it’s like being Santa Claus.
I get to jump in an airplane every day and fly around to visit all my friends—bring them stuff, talk to them, check on their family, and see how they’re doing. There are always things that we need—either physical or health needs—and other nice-to-have items, like things that make our homes a little bit more comfortable or life a little less stressful.
What’s most important to me is helping people. There’s an emotional side to what we do.
Aniak is considered a hub village for Alaska. We have a long paved runway, and then there are 15 villages around us that have short gravel strips that we service. Usually, first thing in the morning, I’m out in my seven-seater Cessna 207 collecting people who need to catch our Ryan Air flight that connects to Anchorage. So, I’ll take mail, food, UPS boxes, and medicine out to the villages, and then pick up people and transfer them between the villages or back and forth to Aniak.
When I land, everybody rushes out from the village to pick up their goods or see if whatever they’ve been waiting for has arrived yet. We can wait forever to receive products out here—sometimes it takes three or four weeks for something to get here from the lower 48. So people are very excited to get the things that they’ve been waiting for, and it’s fun to be able to deliver that stuff.
It’s also nice to be able to be a consistent, friendly face when people are going through tough times—we can be there for them in that way.
Anyway, I’ll jump out of the airplane with a form that tells the agent who has received packages, how much mail they got, if there’s any freight for the clinic, or if there’s anything like emergency medications that must be delivered right away. The agent will give me paperwork for backhaul mail, any freight that needs to go out, or if there was something mis-sorted from the last flight that needs to go back to the post office.
If somebody’s waiting to travel back with me, I can install extra seats. Folks will jump in, I’ll give ‘em a quick safety briefing, and they’ll ride the rest of the mail route like a taxi or bus! Often passengers have family in other villages, so they’ll get out while we’re stopped to hug people and catch up.
Most of the year, you can only get in between these villages by plane. Sometimes it’s possible by boat but takes at least a day. In the winter, we can’t reach any of the Yukon villages from Aniak without flying. All practical, quick trips need to be done through Ryan Air, so I get to be the liaison touching base with everybody.
That’s all part of my job: to interact, bring information, share news, tell stories. It’s all connected.
