Alaska Airlines pledges to continue flights as government shutdown jeopardizes payments
- Wrangell Sentinel
- Oct 15
- 2 min read
By Larry Persily
Wrangell Sentinel
Though the federal government shutdown jeopardizes the program that subsidizes scheduled air service to more than 170 cities nationwide — including Wrangell and Petersburg — Alaska Airlines has said it will continue uninterrupted service to its contract communities in the state.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, which manages the almost 50-year-old Essential Air Service program, had notified participating carriers that funding would run out on Oct. 12. But the department later sent out a second notice, announcing it had “secured additional funding to … maintain subsidy payments through Nov. 2, if the government-wide lapse in appropriations continues until that date.”
The program provides scheduled air service to 65 small communities in Alaska.
This spring, the department awarded a new two-year contract to Alaska Airlines for daily passenger jet service to Wrangell, Petersburg, Yakutat and Cordova, along with scheduled cargo flights, and seasonal service to Gustavus.
The contract pays almost $18 million a year for the Boeing 737 flights.
The nationwide program costs the federal treasury $592 million a year for service in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, with just under $42 million going toward ensuring scheduled service in Alaska.
Congress created the Essential Air Service subsidy in 1978 to ensure a minimum level of service for communities that otherwise might receive no regularly scheduled flights.
President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget for next year calls for a 52% cut to the program. Congress did not enact a budget before the start of the federal fiscal year on Oct. 1, and the lack of a continuing resolution to keep government agencies open during the political negotiations resulted in a partial government shutdown that has jeopardized funding for air service and multiple other programs.
The lack of funding for the contract will not deter Alaska Airlines from continuing its operations, a company official said last week.
“Alaska Airlines takes seriously our unique obligation to serve as the critical transportation link for these communities to hubs within and beyond the state of Alaska,” Tim Thompson, director of public relations, said in a prepared statement.
Despite the uncertainty over federal funding, “Alaska Airlines currently plans to continue operating reliable flights as scheduled while the federal government works to resolve the shutdown.”
The subsidy covered air service to 184 Alaska communities when it started up in 1978 but has been steadily reduced over the years and now applies to 65 cities and villages, with several small air carriers flying just a single route and others operating out of regional hubs.
Alaska Seaplanes receives about $2.1 million per year for routes from Juneau to Angoon, Kake, Tenakee Springs, Elfin Cove and Pelican, Andy Kline, marketing manager, told Alaska Public Media last week.
“We are ‘steady as she goes’ with all of our regular deliveries and will be that way for the foreseeable future,” Kline said in an email to the public radio reporter.
Island Air Service, which receives $1.3 million a year to operate 13 routes from Kodiak, also plans to continue flying as scheduled through at least mid-November, co-owner and operations director Erik Howard said in an interview with Alaska Public Media.
• This story originally appeared in the Wrangell Sentinel.
