Alaska Airlines will add one more weekly flight between Utqiaġvik and Anchorage starting Aug. 15. The addition can make travel easier for Utqiaġvik residents, people in other North Slope villages and visitors.
The new Tuesday flight will depart Anchorage at 7:20 a.m. and arrive in Utqiaġvik at 9:16 a.m. Then it will take off from Utqiaġvik at 10 a.m. and arrive back in Anchorage at 11:52 a.m.
Starting August 15, 2023, Alaska will be adding an additional flight on Tuesdays!
Posted by City of Utqiagvik on Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Alaska Airlines decided to add a flight in response to residents’ requests, said Tim Thompson, director of public relations for the airline.
Wiley Post–Will Rogers Memorial Airport in Utqiaġvik acts as a hub for North Slope communities. While Alaska Airlines carries daily Utqiaġvik flights to and from Anchorage, Wright Air Service flies between the village and such destinations as Atqasuk, Deadhorse, Nuiqsut, Point Lay and Wainwright. An additional Alaska Airlines flight can decrease the length and cost of travel between Anchorage and the North Slope villages.
Travel to Anchorage is a necessity for many rural residents for medical appointments or to shop for household goods and food.
“My daughters have serious food allergies so food is a big deal for us,” said Wainwright resident Anna Shreffler Mekki. “Trying to get a taxi (in Utqiaġvik ), make sure our fresh food and frozen food stay good while we have to find lodging is a heavy burden.”
Wright Air Service flies between Utqiaġvik to Wainwright twice a day. The first flight leaves Utqiaġvik at 9 a.m. and gets back from Wainwright to Utqiagvik around 11 a.m. The second flight leaves Utqiagvik at 12 p.m. and gets back around 2 p.m. Since the current Alaska Airlines flight from Anchorage doesn’t get into Utqiaġvik until 4:40 p.m., travelers on their way to Wainwright have to catch the flight the next day and need to spend more than $200 for a night at the hotel.
With the new Tuesday morning flight, travelers like Mekki will be able to get from Anchorage to Wainwright in one day.
“A new morning flight with Alaska Air will greatly benefit all members of our community due to the current requirements for our community members to be forced to rent a hotel room in order to secure a flight from Utqiaġvik to our villages,” Mekki said. “It would greatly help if they offered more than one day a week since most of our flights are for appointments. Hopefully, they will see the greater need.”
The addition became possible this summer after Alaska Airlines increased the use of Embraer 175 aircraft — smaller Brazilian-made jets that accommodate 76 passengers and have a two-by-two configuration in the coach without middle seats and smaller overhead bins, said External Communications Manager at Alaska Airlines Ray Lane.
The company originally started using Embraer 175s on some flights In October 2020 and in mid-June rolled out daily E175 service into Nome and Kotzebue, Lane said.
Using smaller planes for rural locations helps Alaska Airlines free the bigger jets for flights from Anchorage to locations in the Lower 48, allows the company to have additional nonstop flights to Alaska villages and helps maintain existing flight frequency using the right-sized aircraft, Lane said.
Thomson said that the smaller jets fit the needs of the passengers flying to and from Utqiaġvik.
“The airport historically operates a lower load factor for much of the year,” Thompson said.
The additional Embraer 175 flight between Anchorage and Utqiaġvik will complement existing Alaska Airlines’ daily Boeing 737 service.
The passengers should see no changes to their experience, Thompson said.
“Guests still get free bags,” he said, “and there is space underneath seats for those who are not able to use overhead bins.”
Like all flights to and from Uqiaġvik, Alaska Airlines lists the new flight under Barrow, or BRW, the airport code for Utqiaġvik and its federal and international designation, Thompson said.