About Us
Our Family Brands
Northwest Seaplanes is part of a larger family of locally owned brands. If you are looking for an adventure in the northwest make sure to check out all of our offerings.
Serving Stehekin from downtown Lake Chelan with regularly scheduled flights, charter flights and seaplanes tours of the Lake Chelan area. One of a kind Seaplane Wine Tasting Tour Flights.
Friday Harbor Seaplanes operates multiple daily scheduled flights to and from our base in Renton to the San Juan Islands. Connecting Friday Harbor and the San Juan Islands to Seattle’s greater Eastside, South Seattle, Sea-Tac and the South Sound.
About Us
Clyde Carlson, owner and founder, started Northwest Seaplanes in 1988 providing exclusive service with two Dehavilland Beavers to Hakai Lodge which is located 70 miles north of Vancouver Island. Providing seaplane service to Hakai Lodge was not Clyde’s first adventure in aviation.
Clyde started his seaplane career thanks to the GI Bill in 1968. Soon after completing his commercial pilot training, Clyde began working for Lake Union Air Service flying Cessna 206′s to River Inlet Resort. As his passion for seaplanes grew, he started Western Air Charters in 1976 with a fleet of four Cessna 206′s providing seasonal tourism air service for the now bustling cruise ship industry in Juneau, Alaska.
Residing in Seattle, Clyde purchased Lake Union Air Service in 1980. Soon after Clyde became the pioneer of scheduled seaplane service from Lake Union to the San Juan Islands and then Victoria, BC. By 1986, Lake Union Air became the scheduled largest seaplane in the United States offering year-round scheduled and charter flights throughout the San Juan Islands and British Columbia with a fleet of 8 aircraft.
Not long after selling Lake Union Air in 1987, Northwest Seaplanes was conceived providing seasonal scheduled and charter service to boating and trophy salmon fishing destinations throughout British Columbia’s Inside Passage.
In 2010 the Carlson family purchased Hakai Lodge and Clyde spends his summer running the lodge which was ultimately the start of Northwest Seaplanes.
Clyde is not alone in his business ventures. His son, Shane Carlson, is following in his footsteps and carrying on the family business. Shane began his flying career working the docks of Lake Union Air and took his first flying lessons during his lunch break starting at age 15. Shane pursued his flight training at Big Bend Community College earning his associates degree on Commercial Aviation. Now Shane has been flying commercially for the family business for 26 years and manages the seaplane operations of both Northwest Seaplanes and Chelan Seaplanes.
Because of our well-trained, professional, and courteous pilots and our meticulously maintained fleet, Northwest Seaplanes has the utmost attention to safety from our equipment to the professional pilots on our staff. You will feel comfortable knowing you are flying with experienced professionals. This tradition and safety culture has been continued through our sister company, Friday Harbor Seaplanes. Safety and customer service is our utmost goal and has led the Carlson’s to success for over 50 years in the business.
When you are flying aboard one of our Dehavilland Beaver, you are flying in the hands of the safest and most professional bush pilots in the industry!