zReports Research Institute · Updated October 2026
Alaska has 61 active licensed balloon ride operators on the state's public file. zReports analyzed NTSB federal aviation accident records (49 CFR Part 830 mandatory reporting) to produce a records layer grade for every one, the government's own verdicts, mapped through one fixed rule. No facility can pay to change a score, and the grade is free.
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Active licensed balloon ride operators | 61 |
| Cities covered | 8 |
| Statewide average records layer score | 85 |
| Grade A facilities | 61 (100%) |
| Facilities with a clean record (no deficiencies on file) | 61 (100%) |
| Serious (high severity) findings on the record | 0 |
| Moderate findings on the record | 0 |
Average records layer score by city (cities with 10+ facilities), against the statewide average of 85.
| City | Facilities | Avg score | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juneau | 10 | 85 | +0 |
| Anchorage | 10 | 85 | +0 |
| Fairbanks | 19 | 85 | +0 |
| Ketchikan | 12 | 85 | +0 |
#1 Above And Beyond Alaska Juneau · A-
#2 Air Excursions Juneau · A-
#3 Ak Sled Dog Tours Talkeetna · A-
#4 Alaska Air Taxi Anchorage · A-
#5 Alaska Floatplane & Alaska Bush Floatplane Service Talkeetna · A-
#6 Alaska Helicopter Tours Anchorage · A-
#7 Alaska Railroad - Fairbanks Depot Fairbanks · A-
#8 Alaska Seaplane Adventures Juneau · A-
#9 Alaska Shore Excursions Juneau · A-
#10 Alaska Travel Adventures Juneau · A-
#11 Alaskan And Proud Market Ap Ketchikan · A-
#12 Alpine Air Alaska Girdwood · A-
#13 Alyeska Pipeline / Viewing Point Fairbanks · A-
#14 Aurora Camp Fairbanks · A-
#15 Aurora Ice Museum Fairbanks · A-
#16 Aviation Expeditions Fairbanks · A-
#17 Balloons By Night Moods Juneau · A-
#18 Black Rock Aviation Ketchikan · A-
#19 Chena Hot Springs Resort Fairbanks · A-
#20 Crown Mountain Guides Palmer · A-
#21 Dancing Bear Alaska Air Service Talkeetna · A-
#22 David Green Park Anchorage · A-
#23 Denali Air Denali National Park And Preserve · A-
#24 Denali Air Flightseeing Tours Denali National Park And Preserve · A-
#25 Dolly S House Ketchikan · A-
Don't see a name? Search it. Every balloon ride operator has an answer.
The free grade on this page contains zero zReports judgment: it maps the state's own published licensing and enforcement verdicts through one fixed rule, applied identically to every balloon ride operator in America. Where the record and public reputation diverge, a highly reviewed facility with serious findings on file, the paid Consumer Intelligence Report™ surfaces it through the composite Consumer Z Score™ and our published ten point methodology. Facilities are never contacted and cannot pay to change a score. Read the full methodology →
Adventure aviation operators in Alaska fall under federal oversight: the FAA and the NTSB under 49 CFR Part 830 mandatory accident reporting requires operators to report qualifying accidents, and those filings are mandatory, public, and permanent, the one surface no operator can reputation manage. This page is computed from that federal record.
Alaska has 61 active licensed balloon ride operators on the state's public file, across 8 cities. Every one has a free records layer grade on zReports.
Fairbanks, with 19 licensed balloon ride operators, followed by Ketchikan (12) and Juneau (10).
The free records layer grade contains zero zReports judgment. It maps the government's own published verdicts, NTSB federal aviation accident records (49 CFR Part 830 mandatory reporting), through one fixed rule, applied identically to every balloon ride operator in the country. The paid Consumer Intelligence Report™ adds the composite Consumer Z Score™, which audits the record against public reputation through our published ten point methodology.
Reviews and records are different surfaces. Reviews reflect what visitors chose to write, and can be managed by the business. Inspection and enforcement records are filed by the state, are mandatory, and cannot be edited by the facility. When the two diverge, the record is the surface worth checking. That divergence is exactly what zReports was built to surface.
Rankings refresh whenever Alaska republishes its licensing data; facility pages carry the records-verified date for each provider. This page was generated from the current file as of October 2026.
No. Facilities are never contacted, never notified, and cannot pay to be listed, delisted, or re-scored. zReports has no business relationship with any facility it grades, independence is the product.
This report was generated from the zReports Consumer Records Database™, a continuously updated database that normalizes official government licensing, inspection, enforcement, ownership, and safety records across multiple federal and state agencies. Every statistic in this report is traceable to its originating public record. Facilities cannot pay to alter scores, rankings, or findings.
Data source: zReports Consumer Intelligence Database™ v2026.10 · Built from: FAA operator records · NTSB CAROL accident database (49 CFR Part 830 mandatory filings) · Public consumer review signals (audited, never trusted, in the composite Consumer Z Score™) · Proprietary Consumer Z Score™ methodology · Updated: October 2026
APA, zReports Research Institute. (2026). Alaska Hot Air Balloon Ride Operator Rankings & Safety Report (v2026.10). zReports.org. https://zreports.org/rankings/balloon/ak
MLA, zReports Research Institute. “Alaska Hot Air Balloon Ride Operator Rankings & Safety Report.” zReports.org, v2026.10, October 2026, zreports.org/rankings/balloon/ak.
Plain, Alaska Hot Air Balloon Ride Operator Rankings & Safety Report, zReports Research Institute, v2026.10, updated October 2026, zreports.org/rankings/balloon/ak