PETERSBURG – There has a been a decrease in air cargo coming into Petersburg that is affecting the timely arrival of residents’ packages after the retirement of Alaska Airline’s combi 737-400 aircraft, a half passenger and half cargo jet, at the end of 2016, according to Joe Prus, CEO of City Cargo.
Prus has asked his customers to submit feedback to Alaska Airlines on their website informing the airline company of the inconvenience of not receiving their packages on time.
“There’s medications and things that [residents] rely on to have moved in on a regular basis,” said Prus. “Especially with UPS, it’s not cheap. That’s something they’re paying for.”
Prus posted his message on Facebook earlier this month asking his customers to express their frustration to Alaska Airlines over the delayed delivery times. He was first instructed to visit the company’s website and submit a written statement after inquiries over the delayed cargo. It could take the airline company as long as a month to respond, said Prus.
When the combi jets were taken offline, a dedicated freighter fleet of 737-700s took over the movement of cargo throughout Alaska, according to Tom Thompson, manager of external affairs with Alaska Airlines. Southeast communities are to receive at least one freighter flight a week, with the rest of the cargo arriving on passenger jets. The freighter fleet is expected to add 20 percent more cargo capacity throughout Alaska, according to Thompson.
“We’re only scheduled for one freighter a week out of Seattle on Wednesdays,” said Prus. “Ninety-nine percent of my freight comes out of Anchorage. Right away I knew there was going to be an issue.”
City Cargo, which receives and delivers packages from the United Postal Service, was receiving a steady amount of cargo five days a week up until the combi fleet was retired. Currently, Prus receives cargo two to three times a week; however, the same amount of cargo is still going through Alaska Airlines.
“There’s just no way for me to really operate a business receiving freight a couple days a week not knowing which two days those are going to be,” said Prus. “[I’m] trying to schedule my drivers, trying to keep them interested in a job that they’re not sure if they’re going to work when they get up in the morning or not.”
Although most of City Cargo’s freight comes out of Anchorage, the flights to Juneau are filled with passengers and their luggage leaving little room for cargo, said Prus. Once the jets leave Juneau, there are about 85 empty seats. To counteract the bottle-neck affect that is taking place in Anchorage, cargo is being put on to different flights that don’t come to Petersburg to be staged at various locations. A few weeks ago there were 5,000 pounds of UPS sitting in Juneau waiting to be delivered to Petersburg, according to Prus.
“The Alaska Air Cargo group does a daily review of needs in Southeast Alaska, and where possible, an extra aircraft or stop may be added to alleviate backlogs,” said Thompson in a statement to the Pilot. “Alaska Air Cargo is continually working with shippers to meet their needs on a weekly basis.”
Prus said that he received cargo from Tuesday through Saturday last week and had forgotten what it feels like to receive a full week of freight. He suspects that his constant emails and phone calls to Alaska Airlines helped push the airline company into making changes to ensure cargo was coming in on time.
“I think I rattled some cages out there,” said Prus. “I know I’ve been heard. It’s just a situation that I have to keep holding them accountable for their service.”
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