Wings of Alaska fills L.A.B. gap
Local air carrier Wings of Alaska has ramped up service to Kake since the federal government shut down its next-door neighbor at the Juneau Airport, L.A.B. Flying Service Inc.
Mike Stedman, director of operations for Wings, said Friday the airline started to get more calls about service to Kake after L.A.B. was shut down, and was planning at least daily flights to Kake over the next several days.
"We're trying to provide some service for (Kake residents) so they're not totally without air service or mail," Stedman said.
Among other activities in Kake, the 14th Annual Kake Dog Salmon Festival took place on Saturday.
Ordinarily, Wings offers chartered flights there, but the airline hasn't offered regularly scheduled service to Kake since 1993.
The company is looking at putting together a schedule now that L.A.B.'s planes are grounded, Stedman said. The 50-minute flight costs $156 each way.
L.A.B. was the only airline with regular service to Kake, and the Federal Aviation Administration shut it down Thursday indefinitely, alleging chronic safety problems. The airline is appealing the action.
Bob Jacobsen of Juneau is president of Wings of Alaska. The company is owned by Alaska Juneau Aeronautics Inc., which is owned by the Portland, Ore.-based Seaport Air Group.
At the airport Friday afternoon, three people got onto a Wings flight to Kake. At least two had been rescheduled from the previous day's abruptly canceled L.A.B. flight.
Their pilot, Paul Lerma, ordinarily only flies to Kake when someone charters a flight but has a young child in Kake he might get to visit more often if Wings adds flights there.
"I'm hoping so," he said. "Anything to see the boy."
• Contact reporter Kate Golden at 523-2276 or kate.golden@juneauempire.com.