http://www.airlinerworld.com 69goods to and from Alaska, the
distances they must cover coupled
with the extreme variations in weather
mean they can take several days to
make the journey from the ports of
Seattle and Vancouver.
Alaska Airlines, which is currently
the largest passenger operator in the
state, plies a thorough network of daily
flights, most of them connecting to
the larger cities of Anchorage and
Fairbanks, and onwards to Juneau and
Seattle. While many of these flights
operate on Alaska’s newer fleet of
737NGs, the combi fleet connects the
smaller and more remote communities
between Anchorage and Juneau, and
from Juneau to Seattle.
The Route
There are two daily flights in
each direction between Seattle and
Anchorage, but due to the distances
between cities and the time on the
ground it’s not practical for one aircraft
to connect all the cities during the
same journey. As a result, one jet
typically departs Seattle, stopping off
at Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg,
before arriving in the state capital,
Juneau. From here it continues direct
to Anchorage. The second aircraft
flies straight from Seattle to Juneau,
continuing on the northern half of
the milk run with stops at Yakutat and
Cordova, before arriving in Anchorage.
This split-routing is then repeated with
two aircraft on the way back to Seattle.
The fleet of five 737-400 combis,
which the carrier was using at the time
of my visit, was introduced a little over
ten years ago. These were replace-ments for the airline’s ageing 737-200
combi fleet, capable of carrying more
freight and passengers, with space
for four containers (called igloos in
Alaska) in the forward fuselage and 72
Economy seats in the rear.Day One
I embarked on the milk run from
Anchorage with the aim of flying the
full route down to Seattle, taking in as
many stops as possible. However, due
to flight times it’s not possible to take
the three-flight milk run to Juneau and
connect to the four-flight run to Seattle
on the same day, resulting in a two-
day trip.
The first leg of the journey was on
board N768AS (c/n 27082), which was
built in September 1992 and converted
in early 1997. All passengers must
brave the elements and board through
the rear of the aircraft, which is fine
in summer but not so great during the
Alaskan winter. With an almost full
load of passengers boarded, flightThe 737-400 combis
were introduced in 1997
as a replacement for
the airline’s ageing
-200 combis.
AVIATION IMAGE NE T WORK/
SIMON GREGORYBELOW LEFT • Flight AS66
is readied for departure
from Juneau. The
passengers board the
aircraft from the back,
with freight loaded into
the front section.Juneau Airport is a
stone’s throw from
the lower end of the
Mendenhall Glacier,
a popular tourist
attraction.While universally known
as a milk run, the flights
carry anything from
medicines, baby supplies
and generators to
clothes, milk itself and
other perishables.