Ash Plume Wreaks Havoc with Alaska Flights
KOMO Staff
SEA-TAC AIRPORT -- Hundreds of passengers trying to get to Alaska finally got some good news Monday as Alaska Airlines announced they are resuming service to the state.
Fourty-four flights were canceled Sunday night for safety reasons due to ash from the eruption at the Kasatochi Volcano on Alaska's Aleutian Islands.
The volcano actually erupted Thursday and it's quite far from the usual flight paths. However, the wind shifted over the weekend and brought the ash over the interior of the state, prompting the National Weather Service to issue an Ash Plume Warning.
The airline says flights to Anchorage, Adak, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka were canceled, leaving 5,200 customers affected.
Bob and Carole Rutan never thought a volcano would be the glitch in their vacation plans. They left Chicago Sunday and were supposed to arrive in Anchorage Sunday night to meet their cruise ship.
"We've never been on one before and they are expensive," Carol Rutan. "The thing is to try to make that."
An Alaska Airlines spokesperson says they are trying to add extra flights Monday to get as many passengers up there as they can. However, more evening and nighttime flights may need to be canceled since pilots will not be able to see any ash plumes and fly around them.
"We recognize these cancellations have significantly impacted our customers with travel plans to or from Alaska," Glenn Johnson, executive vice president of airports, maintenance and engineering, said in a news release. "These decisions are guided by our commitment to safety, and we are making every effort to reaccommodate passengers whose flight schedules have been disrupted."
Travelers can check flight status at alaskaair.com or (800) ALASKA-AIR.
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