Airline routes have a big effect on Alaska’s communities — and the economy.
As the U.S. and the rest of the world continue to recover from travel’s hard stop during COVID, a record number of travelers are on the go.
That means the transportation infrastructure gets maxed out more often, including irregular events like bad weather, computer hacks or accidents.
More and more, experienced travelers will seek out nonstop routes. That’s because layovers at busy airports like Sea-Tac, Chicago and Dallas offer more opportunities for missed connections, mishandled baggage and weather delays.
Because Alaska continues to be a bucket-list destination for millions of travelers, the state is in a sweet spot to reap the rewards of nonstop flights.
Further, Alaska travelers can take advantage of new nonstops going in the other direction.
Alaska Airlines leads the pack in offering new nonstop destinations this summer, although all airlines are adding flights.
From Anchorage, Alaska Airlines is adding two more nonstop destinations: Detroit and Sacramento.
Both the Anchorage-Detroit and Anchorage-Sacramento routes will be Saturday-only flights, starting June 14.
Anchorage-Sacramento is a brand-new city pair. California’s capital city will be the fourth airport in the state served with nonstop flights from Anchorage, in addition to San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. Anchorage-San Diego also is a Saturday-only flight. On other days, travelers connect through Seattle or Portland. The seasonal San Diego nonstops begina little earlier, on May 17.
Alaska’s new nonstops to Detroit compete with Delta Air Lines. Delta already boosted its schedule from Detroit to Anchorage to feature daily flights, starting May 23. Detroit is a fortress hub for Delta. Alaska Airlines also flies nonstop from Anchorage to Delta’s hubs in Minneapolis and Salt Lake City.
Alaska Airlines also is resuming the long-dormant daily Fairbanks-Portland nonstop flight, beginning May 15. This summer, Alaska’s subsidiary Horizon Air will fly the route with an E175, featuring 2x2 seating in coach.
Portland is getting more flights this summer as Alaska Air upgrades its hub status. That includes five daily nonstops from Anchorage — the most ever.
In addition to Alaska’s new nonstop flights from Anchorage to the Lower 48 and Hawaii, the airline flies all over Alaska. It’s not the only air carrier in the state. But Alaska Air is the only airline operating jet flights within the state — from Utqiagvik to Ketchikan, to Adak, to Kotzebue and back.
For those travelers who fly Alaska and collect miles, the in-state flights represent a valuable mileage-burning opportunity.
Plan ahead to fly to Fairbanks, Kodiak, Cordova or Juneau for just 5,000 miles each way. Also, Alaska Airlines now will offer award travelers full mileage credit on the free flights.
Destinations farther from Anchorage require more miles: 7,500 miles each way for Ketchikan and 10,000 miles each way for Nome, Kotzebue or Utqiagvik (BRW).
Smaller carriers help connect the dots from Anchorage. Most, but not all, carriers use smaller nine-passenger aircraft.
• Iliamna. Iliamna Air Taxi flies a single-engine, pressurized nine-passenger Pilatus PC-12 each to and from Anchorage.
• Port Alsworth. Lake and Pen Air operates a nonstop flight to the shores of Lake Clark from Merrill Field.
• Tatitlek. Alaska Air Transit flies nonstop in a PC-12 from Merrill Field to Tatitlek, in Prince William Sound.
• Aniak. RyanAir flies from Anchorage International twice a day nonstop to Aniak with a PC-12. From Aniak, the carrier offers flights to smaller villages like Red Devil, Russian Mission, Shageluk, Grayling, Holy Cross and Anvik.
• McGrath. Reeve Air flies five times per week from Anchorage to McGrath. Reeve also flies nonstop from Anchorage to Glennallen (Gakona) twice each week.
• Kenai. Two carriers offer frequent departures: Kenai Aviation and Grant Aviation. Kenai Aviation flies Tecnam Travellers, a wing-over, twin-engine plane. Grant uses a single-engine nine-passenger Cessna 208.
• Homer. Both Aleutian Airways and Ravn Alaska offer twice-daily service between Anchorage and Homer. Aleutian flies a 50-passenger Saab 2000. Ravn’s Dash-8s offer 25-37 seats.
• Valdez: Ravn Alaska flies nonstop from Anchorage — and recently introduced fares as low as $49 each way. Ravn also flies to Unalakleet, St. Paul Island and St. Mary’s.
This is not a complete list. Rather, it’s an abbreviated list of carriers to and from Anchorage. There’s another group of carriers flying from Bethel to more than 50 surrounding villages, including Yute Air Taxi and Grant Aviation.
From Fairbanks, Wright Air Service, Everts Air and Warbelow’s Air Ventures take travelers up and down the Yukon River villages and to North Slope villages like Kaktovik, Wainwright and Point Lay.
In Nome, Bering Air flies to communities all over the Seward Peninsula and to St. Lawrence Island.
In Southeast Alaska, Alaska Seaplanes flies from Juneau to Hoonah, Skagway, Kake, Haines, Klawock and many other communities in the Inside Passage.
In addition to carriers offering scheduled service, there are dozens of operators that offer charter flights all over the state.
Nonstop flights from around the country and from Bush Alaska are an essential part of Anchorage’s economy. Whether it’s for shopping, a vacation, a family visit or a trip to the doctor, many of Alaska’s residents depend on a small plane ride to complete the mission. Those of us in Anchorage can count on a bigger plane to fly away. And the return flights bring visitors from around the world to Alaska!