Alaska Air Cargo upgrades cargo network to Washington as demand spikes

ALASKA Air Cargo is to enhance service to Washington DC from Alaska on the back of increasing freight and business volumes between the west coast and east coast.

Alaska Airlines cargo arm transports 120 million pounds of cargo yearly with much of its Alaska seafood, which includes its Copper River salmon, plying the south at a total of 25 million pounds worth of shipments.

Northern shipments are focused on businesses including US Postal Service mail, personal packages and essentials for remote life in Alaska.

The carrier experienced increased salmon volumes for its Alaska-Washington via Seattle. Volumes on return flights are to increase following Shell Oil's permission to drill in Alaska's Chukchi Sea.

The carrier's managing director Torque Zubeck has forecast a good year ahead on the back of Shell Oil and Alaska's decision to explore extracting oil from North Slope's shale rock. "We're seeing lots of cargo moving through our warehouse to the North Slope, and we've even had inquiries about our charter freight services," said Mr Zubeck, reported Anchorage-based Petroleum News.

It has added several new destinations across the US that include Seattle and Kansas City in March, Philadelphia in June, San Antonio in September and rerouting Seattle-Miami flights to Fort Lauderdale to increase transits for passenger and cargo customers.

It provides flights to all four islands of Hawaii from Seattle rather than the primary route given by many of LA to Honlulu, said Mr Zubeck. "Our freight forwarders and other cargo customers like that," he added.

It will provide weekly seasonal flights directly from Anchorage to Kona, the Big Island, to its regular Seattle-Honolulu service, along with other seasonal flights to Maui, including a weekly flight from Bellingham, Washington, effective November.

"We serve the smaller markets for people who need to ship high-priority items. For what folks need, it seems to be working," he said.

By increasing capacity in retrofitting six Boeing 737-400s to replace its old 737-200 cargo fleet responds to a need for a US$100 million service upgrade. It will review further aircraft purchases by summer next year particularly the 23-24 aircraft of its 117 fleet it uses for Alaskan destinations.

The airline is looking to acquire a 737-900ER, capable of carrying a larger bellyhold and up to 181 passengers, suitable for transcontinental flights and Hawaii flights, said Mr Zubeck.

At its Anchorage airport base, the airline has acquired a new ULD system, also called an "igloo" or a standardised aircraft container which holds up to 6,000 pounds of cargo, to increase efficiency and the number of systems for loading and unloading to three.

Additionally, it is looking at remodelling its cargo-handling system in Seattle to allow for a "single pickup and drop off location" for customers.