For jet flights from Anchorage, the first stop at the airport is the check-in kiosk. Then, it’s off to the TSA line.

But those jet flights are just half of the story for Anchorage travelers. The entire A concourse at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport as well as the L gates downstairs near the baggage claim are reserved for smaller carriers that go to many destinations around the state.

Air carriers come and go. Some familiar names are gone, but not forgotten, including Era Alaska, Reeve Aleutian Air, Markair … even Wien Air Alaska. Many of the destinations, and a whole lot more, are served by carriers that fly out of the A and L gates. Further, several air carriers fly out of other terminals, or out of Anchorage’s downtown airport at Merrill Field.

I boarded an early flight on a recent morning from Anchorage to Kenai. But the 7 a.m. flight time was not the first flight of the day.

Kenai Aviation’s first flight of the day is at 4 a.m. from Kenai to Anchorage. The nine-seat Tecnam 2012 aircraft then turns around and flies south at 5 a.m.

Kenai Aviation recently acquired a third aircraft. “That enables us to fly two planes on the route between Anchorage and Kenai, using the third plane as a spare,” said company founder Joel Caldwell.

The Tecnam aircraft is a wing-over twin-engine plane made in Italy.

Grant Aviation dedicates four Cessna 208s to the Anchorage-Kenai route, according to Dan Knesek, the company’s vice president. “During the peak summer season, we offer 36 flights a day between Anchorage and Kenai,” he said.

Grant’s first southbound flight of the day leaves Anchorage at 4:30 a.m. for Kenai.

Kenai is Grant’s only destination out of Anchorage, although the carrier operates an extensive network in Southwest Alaska.

Grant Aviation and Kenai Aviation both are part 135 air carriers, which means they are limited to nine passengers per flight. Since Ravn Alaska pulled out of the Anchorage-Kenai market, all flights are on the smaller nine-seat planes.

Ravn Alaska still flies to Homer, though. They also fly to Valdez, Dutch Harbor, Sand Point, Cold Bay, St. Paul Island, St. Mary’s and Unalakleet. All of Ravn’s flights are on the de Havilland Dash 8, which holds up to 37 passengers.

[Make the most of warm summer days and get out to Kachemak Bay, Resurrection Bay and Prince William Sound]

Aleutian Airways flies a larger plane, the Saab 2000, configured for 41-50 passengers. From Anchorage, the carrier flies to Sand Point, Dutch Harbor, King Salmon and Cold Bay.

Both Ravn Alaska and Aleutian Airways are part 121 carriers like Alaska Airlines. That means they can carry more than nine passengers per flight — but must adhere to stricter safety protocols.

Up until March, Aleutian Airways flew between Anchorage and Homer. The airline had planned to continue flights through the summer. But the state of Alaska’s runway repaving program stopped that plan. As the runway was being repaved in sections, it was too narrow to accommodate Aleutian Airways’ larger aircraft. So, Ravn Alaska now provides the only air service.

Ryan Air has a large air cargo and freight operation in Western Alaska. But the carrier also offers scheduled flights between Anchorage and Aniak, aboard a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft.

The PC-12 is a popular aircraft for part 135 carriers. It’s a powerful plane with a pressurized cabin. Alaska Air Taxi has a fleet of four of these aircraft. The carrier offers flights from its hangar at Merrill Field to Tatitlek and Chenega in Prince William Sound. Alaska Air Taxi also serves two destinations along the Kuskokwim River: Takotna and Nikolai.

McGrath is between Takotna and Nikolai on the Kuskokwim. Reeve Air flies nonstop from Anchorage to McGrath five days a week (Monday-Friday). Reeve also flies twice each week between Anchorage and Glennallen. Reeve operates from a hangar on the shores of Lake Hood — not from the main terminal.

In Western Alaska, Lake and Peninsula Airways flies from Merrill Field to Port Alsworth, connecting with several villages in the area, including Nondalton, Iliamna, Pedro Bay, Igiugig and Kokhanok. Lake and Pen Air flies Cessna 208s on the routes.

Iliamna Air Taxi also flies to many of these destinations via scheduled flights from Anchorage to Iliamna. The carrier flies a pressurized PC-12 on the route.

Each transportation hub has its own collection of air carriers to fly travelers, mail and freight to villages around the state.

From Fairbanks, Everts, Wright Air Service and Warbelows fly up and down the Yukon and Tanana River Valleys.

From Nome and Kotzebue, Bering Air has an extensive network from Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island to Point Lay along the Arctic coast.

In Bethel, both Grant Aviation and Yute Air Taxi offer flights to more than 50 villages.

Down in Southeast Alaska, Alaska Seaplanes has developed an extensive network from Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan to smaller towns up and down the Inside Passage.

The extensive network of smaller, regional carriers is an essential part of Alaska’s transportation infrastructure.

[Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Ravn Alaska and Aleutian Airways are part 121 carriers, not part 131 carriers.]

After almost eight days of sailing, Orcas Island teens Dagney Kruger and Else Ranker finished the Race to Alaska (R2AK) on June 20.

Joined by Bellingham teammates Bryce Lutz and Willow Gray, they traveled the 710 miles from Victoria B.C. to Ketchikan, Alaska on their Carrera 19, Loose Cannon. The team faced different challenges throughout their journey, but also met many great supporters and participants along the way.

The team, which chose the name ‘The Juvenile Delinquents’ in reference to the final weeks of school they would skip in order to participate in the race, left for Alaska at noon on June 12. Prior to this official start, teams completed a portion known as ‘the proving grounds’ on June 9, which involved a 40 mile stint from Port Townsend to Victoria B.C. It was during this initial run that The Juvenile Delinquents faced their first challenge. The team discovered leakage as standing water began to pool. Lutz caulked the boat following this discovery, but the leaks continued to be a slight challenge for the team.

Around the third day of the trip, they hit the most difficult part of the journey as they crossed Queen Charlotte’s Strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The team, two of whom had been awake since midnight due to a disruption in their sleep schedule after making a stop to catch the tide, faced high winds and large swells coming off the ocean, the first swells they had experienced thus far.

“Suddenly we’re beating upwind and we can see on the tracker that we’re like, three to four miles [behind them], and these were two teams that we’ve been catching the whole time,” said Kruger. “So we know they’re like right there, but also everyone’s seasick, and all day we see these giant swells and heavy wind, it’s not fun.”

Additionally, Kruger explained that while in Queen Charlotte Strait, you can see Cape Caution, the next daunting landmark for competitors. It is the first cape on the course that is unprotected and out on the open ocean, where the racers experience the largest swells of the trip.

Once they forged through the rough open water, the team experienced smoother sailing, ducking behind islands for more protection and falling into more of a rhythm with their sleep schedules and acclimating to being on the water. They took turns with two awake and two asleep, unless more extreme conditions required three on deck. Kruger said that all of the members needed to know how to do everything since there were only four people on the team and everyone needed to sleep.

Despite a windier start to their adventure during the proving grounds portion, the wind was lighter than Kruger had hoped for. Because their pedal drive was not in top condition, the team was at a disadvantage, but they still finished 4th among other monohull vessels and 8th overall.

One of Kruger’s original goals was to beat the other youth team from Seattle, and the Juvenile Delinquents ended up finishing only one hour after the other youth team.

“It turned into a lot more of a drag race than I ever thought it was going to be,” said Kruger. “You look at the tracker, it’s like we’re basically on top of each other for the last three days, just like drag racing. We didn’t beat them, but we only lost to them by like, an hour after [sailing] over 700 miles, it was crazy.”

However, there were no hard feelings. Kruger described one of the highlights being the night before the two youth teams finished the race, the Seattle team pulled up behind The Juvenile Delinquents and they rafted their boats together, tossing snacks back and forth between the boats.

Besides the camaraderie created by fellow competitors, Kruger mentioned the overwhelming support from friends and family, as well as spectators who kept track of the racers’ progress online. During their only stop on land to get more water, the team decided to stop near a tiny town after making it past Brown Bay and Seymour Narrows, the first major landmark in the race. Kruger said when they pulled up to the dock, there were already two people waiting for them with a hose and a jerry can filled with water.

As for the scenery of the trip, Kruger quoted her teammate Gray who was amazed by the surreal beauty: “It was a lot less rainy than expected and more of a fever dream.”

If given the chance to re-do the race, Kruger said in general she felt they did a good job and wouldn’t change much beyond running more tests prior to the journey to discover the leaks as well as improve the pedal drive situation. As for advice to those interested in competing in the R2AK, Kruger adamantly encourages others to go for it, but to be prepared for the highs and lows of the trip, and that it helps to have someone who has sailed up the coast before.

“You’re gonna hit a low moment, if you don’t move, then you’re gonna stay there. But like, I had such a hard moment in Johnstone strait like, ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ But as soon as you get up and you go outside, there is a beautiful moon and [the water’s] glassy, and there’s no end, it’s so pretty. You just have to appreciate where you are,” said Kruger.

In the future, Kruger hopes to compete in the Washington 360, a 360 mile boat race around the puget sound, which after completing the R2AK will be a ‘less serious’ venture for Kruger. She also hopes to compete in the Pacific Cup, a 2,000 mile yacht race from San Francisco to Oahu, Hawaii, with her father next summer.

By Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection on June 28, 2024

Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection is responding to the Last Chance Creek Fire (#305) 4 miles southeast of the Fort Knox Gold Mine mill and 8 miles east of Gilmore Trail above Steel Creek. Fairbanks Area DOF helitack, four engines, one dozer, six smokejumpers, two Fire Boss water scooping aircraft, and retardant Tanker-544 have all responded to the 2-acre fire. Air Attack is overhead coordinating the firefighting effort on the ground and in the air. 

Aerial resources have been effective and suppression efforts will continue through the night. Additional updates will be available Saturday on AKFireInfo.com. 

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Categories: Active Wildland Fire, Alaska DNR – Division of Forestry (DOF)

Tags: Fort Knox Gold Mine, Last Chance Creek Fire