Most flights into Fairbanks on Alaska Airlines from Anchorage and Seattle are sold out over the next few days as the air carrier catches up from flight delays and cancellations over the holidays.
The airline is conducting a “reset” after a challenging holiday travel season, according to a Thursday statement provided by Tim Thompson, external affairs manager.
Alaska Airlines has reduced departures by 10% through January, but that does not apply to the Fairbanks schedule. Those flights are just full after delays and cancellations during the holidays, a company official said.
“For this week, and in some cases, through the middle of next week, we do have many sold out flights and sold out days,” Marilyn Romano, regional vice president, wrote in an email. “People are still returning this week from holiday travel and many folks were caught up in the Lower 48 weather and operational disruptions from Covid. Many people had tickets booked this week, others are re-accommodated on flights after being delayed getting back to Fairbanks. It is why you see sold out days from both Seattle to Fairbanks and Anchorage to Fairbanks. The reverse routes will show more availability.”
The nationwide surge of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is creating operational challenges for many companies, including airlines.
Angie Spear, manager at the Fairbanks International Airport, said airlines are struggling nationwide with weather and crew shortages, “not to mention a backlog of passengers from previous canceled flights.”
Alaska Airlines is working to “build more reliability back into our operation,” the company’s statement said.
“As we have entered 2022, the continued impacts of omicron have been disruptive in all our lives and unprecedented employee sick calls have impacted our ability to operate our airline reliably,” the statement reads. “We are deeply grateful for how our incredible employees have pulled together to take care of our guests and each other, operate safely and make the best of a very difficult situation. To our guests, we apologize for the considerable inconvenience and are working hard to return to the level of service they know and expect from us.”
The reduced schedule will provide Alaska Airlines “time and space” to plan for future operational challenges “with Covid-19 as a continued reality in our business and our world,” the airline’s statement reads.
Contact staff writer Amanda Bohman at 907-459-7545, at abohman@newsminer.com.
