AlON was fabricated by the pressureless reaction sintering of $Al_2O_3$-AlN powder mixtures. The ratio of AlN to $Al_2O_3$ as well as various sintering aids were the main variables for this study. The optimum ratio of AlN in the $Al_2O_3$-AlN mixture was approximately 35.0 mol%. For the sintering aids, only when a small amount of MgO was added together with $Y_2O_3$ and BN, AlON specimens could be sintered to a full density with negligible pores and high transparency. Other combinations of $Y_2O_3$, BN, CaO and MgO resulted in enough pores in the sintered specimens to have in-line transmittance only between 0% and 30%. The in-line transmittance reached over 80% after sintering at $1975^{circ}C$ for 10 h for the specimen containing 0.15 wt% MgO, 0.08 wt% $Y_2O_3$ and 0.02 wt% BN.