Alaska Airlines has received a federal subsidy since 1976 to provide Wrangell with twice-daily jet service, and the mayor and chamber of commerce are rounding up community support to urge the government to issue a new contract after the current agreement expires in 2025.
“I want to ensure it stays around,” Mayor Patty Gilbert said of her petition drive to show community support for Alaska Airlines under the U.S. Department of Transportation Essential Air Service program.
Wrangell is one of 65 communities in Alaska — which includes 10 more in Southeast — and 112 communities in the Lower 48, Hawaii and Puerto Rico included in the program as of last month.
Congress created the Essential Air Service program in 1978 to provide federal aid to ensure a minimum level of service for communities that otherwise may receive no regularly scheduled flights.
Alaska Airlines’ current two-year contract to serve Wrangell, Petersburg, Gustavus, Yakutat and Cordova covers daily passenger flights and freighter service with an overall subsidy of $14.362 million a year.
The airline, in its Nov. 18 application to the Department of Transportation, is requesting an increase to $17.845 million per year under a new two-year agreement that would run from May 2025 to April 2027.
Of that total, $698,000 is for the freighter service.
Of the $17.146 million the airline is requesting for passenger service, more than two-thirds would go to cover losses on Yakutat and Cordova operations.
The airline specifies Boeing 737 service for the five communities, just as it has for years.
Alaska Airlines’ application projects $45.436 million in annual operating expenses for serving the five communities over the next two years, which includes fuel, payroll, equipment and overhead, against $29.863 million in passenger, cargo and other revenues.
Wrangell’s freight and passenger loads are significantly less than Petersburg, according to statistics included with the Department of Transportation’s request for proposals. In 2023, more than 49,000 passengers boarded or got off a flight in Petersburg, with just over 28,000 getting on or off a flight in Wrangell.
Petersburg loaded or offloaded 416 tons of cargo in 2023, with Wrangell at 270 tons.
Daily jet service north and south from Wrangell “is a big economic factor for our community,” particularly as the town wants to attract more independent travelers to boost summer business, Gilbert said.
The mayor started going around town last week, soliciting signatures on a letter of support for Alaska Airlines’ proposal. As of Dec. 5, she had collected almost 100 signatures. People can stop by City Hall and add their names, she said.
The deadline for comments to the Department of Transportation is Dec. 19. Comments can be emailed to michael.gormas@dot.gov.
The department issued its request for proposals in October. The deadline was Nov. 18, and Alaska Airlines was the only applicant.
In its letter of support, the chamber of commerce highlighted the importance of daily air service for residents who need medical care: “Many residents rely on regular flights to larger urban centers for specialized care that is not available in their home communities.”
Noting the importance of daily flights and the freighters that serve town — bringing in food, medical supplies, mail and general cargo — the chamber added that the service is “particularly vital” since the decline in state ferry service. “Due to the lack of ferry service, school sports teams in Southeast Alaska rely heavily on Alaska Airlines to transport them to participate in competitions.”
The letter, signed by Tracey Martin, the chamber’s executive director, said Alaska’s flights under the Essential Air Service program are “not only a crucial part of daily life for those living in this region, but also play a significant role in the broader economic health, safety and well-being of the people who call Southeast Alaska home.”
The airline received financial support from the federal government under a different subsidy program when it first started daily jet service to Wrangell in 1976. That five-year contract expired in 1981, at which time Alaska Airlines came into the newly established Essential Air Service program.
Other Southeast communities covered by the program include Angoon, Elfin Cove, Excursion Inlet, Hydaburg, Kake, Metlakatla, Pelican and Tenakee. Those communities are served by regional carriers out of Juneau or Ketchikan — Alaska Seaplanes, Taquan Air or Ward Air — at a much lower cost than the 737 jets into the larger cities but with much smaller aircraft with no more than nine passenger seats.
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