A new Alaska Department of Transportation-commissioned study sought to explore the economic impacts of the airports in 12 different Alaska communities: Bethel, Deadhorse, Eek, Fairbanks, Haines, Hooper Bay, Iliamna, Juneau, Kodiak, Kotzebue, Talkeetna and Wasilla.
Although the airports examined in the study were diverse in terms of their geography, size and traffic, the study again reaffirmed the importance of Alaska's airports to the communities they serve, and the role of aviation overall in Alaska.
Those 12 airports reflect an interesting cross-section for study. The communities' populations range anywhere from 253 in Iliamna to more than 90,000 in Fairbanks, Alaska's second largest city. Five of the 12 communities -- Deadhorse, Haines, Wasilla, Talkeetna and Fairbanks -- are on Alaska's meager road system, while the rest of the communities are not.
There is a lot of interesting data in the more than 100-page study, but perhaps the most intriguing information comes from Iliamna, where there were 44 enplanements, more than 5,000 pounds of mail, and 7,000 pounds of cargo per capita in 2009.
Obviously, not all of that mail or those passengers were residents of Iliamna. The spike in numbers is due in large part to the small community's role as a jumping-off point for the Pebble mine project, according to the study.
Raw data relating to the airports is plentiful, yet it mostly reinforces what's already known: airports and air traffic are major economic drivers in Alaska. Jobs relating directly to air traffic and airports account for 10 percent of all employment in Alaska. According to a DOT press release on the new study, 1 in 14 jobs in Bethel can be attributed to the airport.
Perhaps the more interesting portion of the study comes from an attempt to measure airports' impacts on communities. Each airport studied features voices testifying to the airport's role in the lives of citizenry. As expected, communities off the road system offer the most glowing praise. It's out here, in Bush Alaska, where communities rely heavily, sometimes exclusively, on airports to provide a link to the rest of the world. Airports offer lifelines to mail, medical help and even food.
The principal at the school in Eek, Alaska, noted in an interview that fresh fruits and vegetables for school lunches arrive by mail, twice per month. Some business owners in Hooper Bay rely on regular air deliveries to stay in business. Even in Haines, which is connected to the road system and Alaska's marine highway system, the nearest hospital by road is three hours away in Whitehorse, Canada. More than 65 residents have been medically evacuated by air annually since 2009, the study said.
Other, better connected communities like Fairbanks are served by the airports primarily in a tourism and traveling capacity, in contrast to the necessities delivered via air in the other communities, according to the study.
There's way too much data to summarize here, including numerous maps, charts and tables illustrating enplanements, financial benefits, and the number of aviation-related jobs in each community, so be sure to check out the full study for more information and personal testimonies.
Such data makes a handy tool for state bureaucrats when it comes to securing funding for airport contruction and improvement projects -- but it's also hard to debate the continuing importance of Alaska's airport infrastructure.
Contact Ben Anderson at ben(at)alaskadispatch.com