Boeing 737-4Q8 N764AS
(c/n 25101) blasts
away from Anchorage
on another service.
AVIATION IMAGE NE T WORK/
SIMON GREGORY68 AIRLINER WORLD APRIL 2018
Boeing 737NG and, following its
merger with Virgin America, Airbus
A320 Family jets, each fitted with the
latest in-flight amenities, such as Wi-Fi.
For the aviation enthusiast, however,
arguably the most interesting members
of the fleet are the small number of 737
combi aircraft, which earn their keep
serving the smaller communities in
Alaska. With more than 65,634sq miles
(1,700,000km ) of land, and a relatively
low population of around 750,000
inhabitants, the state of Alaska is both
the largest and one of the least densely
populated in the US. Surrounded
by mountains, forests, glaciers and
the Pacific Ocean and at the mercy
of extreme winter weather, Alaska
depends heavily on air travel to get
people in and out, as well as for
essential supplies.
While universally known as a milk
run, the flights carry anything from
medicines, baby supplies and genera-
tors to clothes, milk itself and other
perishables. While ships do transport
The first day of the
journey south was
blighted by bad weather.
ALL PHOTOS AUTHOR
UNLES S STATEDTOP RIGHT • The milk run
route, from Anchorage
to Seattle.RIGHT • The author
enjoyed an evening
in Juneau where he
enjoyed watching a trio
of de Havilland Canada
DHC-3 Otters depart
from the water runway.