Alaska Airlines looks at the calendar when it makes flight plans each year to accommodate Alaskans who want to fly out of state during the holiday break at schools. It’s not so much what day of the week Christmas and New Year’s fall on, but when school lets out.
School breaks are heavy travel times out of Alaska, and districts are all over the calendar, said Scott Habberstad, managing director for the airline’s Alaska market.
The last day of school for Wrangell students is Dec. 15, same as Ketchikan and Sitka. The last day in Petersburg is Dec. 20. Juneau and Anchorage hold their last classes Dec. 21.
The good news for Wrangell families who want to travel for the holidays — but who had not booked tickets as of last week — was that there were about 40 available seats each day on the southbound flights from the last day of school through Christmas Eve, Habberstad said.
To help handle heavier passenger traffic over the holiday season, Alaska made plans to fly more of its larger Boeing 737-800 aircraft on its routes through Wrangell, he said, adding 35 seats a day in each direction over the smaller 737-700 aircraft that usually serve the run that includes Wrangell and Petersburg.
There will be no service to Wrangell and Petersburg on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, the same as past years.
For people who are staying home for the holidays, but thinking about travel in the new year, Habberstad advises them to look for a lot of special fares to “sun and sand” destinations in the first few months of 2024. Travelers can sign up for notices of the fare sales by joining Alaska Airlines Club 49.
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