Community leaders round up support for continued federal air service subsidy

Alaska Airlines has received a federal subsidy since 1976 to provide Wrangell and Petersburg with twice-daily jet service, and community leaders in each community are rounding up support to urge the government to issue a new contract after the current agreement expires in 2025.

“I want to ensure it stays around,” Wrangell Mayor Patty Gilbert said of her petition drive to show community support for Alaska Airlines under the U.S. Department of Transportation Essential Air Service program.

Sixty-five communities in Alaska —including 10 more in Southeast — and 112 communities in the Lower 48, Hawa...