Before Ravn and Aleutian Airways flew out here we would rely on Pen Air to take us from Dutch Harbor to Anchorage. The cost for us to travel was fairly reasonable, it was roughly $250 each way (Dutch to Anchorage or Anchorage to Dutch) and we were also able to use Alaska Airlines miles to purchase flights between 7,500 miles to 12,500 miles depending on the day and time of year we were traveling. However, that all came to a halt on October 17th, 2019 when Pen Air flight 3296 landed with a tailwind of 13 knots and had no breaking ability which led the plane to overrun the end of the runway and ultimately stop on the rocks right before the edge of the water (Accident location). Sadly, that was the last time that Pen Air flew out here to Dutch Harbor.

It wasn’t until November 13th, 2020 that Ravn started to have scheduled flights into Dutch Harbor. We were all VERY thankful to finally have scheduled service back, however, once we saw how much the flights were, we were baffled. The cost of a one-way ticket from either Dutch to Anchorage or Anchorage to Dutch ranged from $659 to over $1,000 without the possibility of using Alaska Airlines miles until years later.

For a while, there were talks about Aleutian Airways coming in and starting to make scheduled flights between Dutch Harbor and Anchorage. All of us community members were excited for a second airline to start making flights in hopes that there would be some sort of competition between the two companies which would help reduce the cost of travel out here. On November 16th, 2022 Aleutian started to make their scheduled flights.

As you know, your companies are the only options that us locals here in the Aleutian communities of Dutch Harbor, Atka, Nikolski, and Akutan have to get to Anchorage unless we charter a plane but that is way too expensive for any of us. We were all hopeful that when two airlines were flying out here there would be competition which would possibly lower the cost of flights, however, we were sadly mistaken.

With the rise in travel costs it makes it VERY difficult for any of us to be able to afford to travel to just Anchorage. The cost ranges from $1,378 (for non-refundable) to $2,078 (for refundable) round-trip from Dutch to Anchorage for ONE PERSON, this doesn’t include other travel costs for us community members that live in other locations that require more travel just to get to Dutch Harbor. With a cost like this, you can travel almost anywhere in the world from Anchorage. Many of us have family members that don’t live out here and whenever we have a family emergency, the majority of the time we can't afford to travel to be with our loved ones. We have elders who live outside of the Aleutian Chain who would love to come back and visit where they grew up but due to the outrageous cost of traveling out here, they can't afford to. There are a lot of kids that go off to college and would love to come home for the holidays or for the summer but aren’t able to due to the cost to travel on your airlines.

We understand that you guys are in the business to make money and with all of the seafood processing plants out here, you guys can charge whatever you want. These multi-million and even some multi-billion dollar companies can afford to and will pay whatever rate you want to charge, however on the other hand local community members are struggling to be able to pay your rates.

We as a community are writing you in hopes that you would consider looking into options that would help reduce the cost of travel for us who live out here on the Aleutian Chain and don’t work for one of these multi-million dollar companies. We understand that doing business out here in Alaska that things will cost more, however, the prices out here for travel are outrageous. We too deserve to be able to have affordable travel options and as of right now, the options we have are not affordable. Some ideas that we have come up with that could make travel more affordable for the locals living in the area are:

1. Partnering up with Alaska Airlines and letting us be able to use airline miles to book flights like we were able to do with Pen Air before their accident.
2. Consider having a “local” rate for us community members who live in the area year-round and who don’t get the benefit of the seafood companies paying for our flights.
3. Or even just having a sale once a year for us local community members to be able to afford flights.

We thank you for your time and consideration in this matter and hope that this letter will encourage you to take action and help us find a path to having affordable airfare. All we want is to be able to have affordable travel options.

Thank you,

Community Members of Aleutian Chain