More than 4,000 people live on Unalaska’s remote Aleutian island year-round. It’s the biggest fishing port in the country by volume, and it’s a hub for the smaller communities in the region.
But flying to Unalaska comes at a high cost. The closest city is Anchorage, 800 miles away, and a round-trip commercial ticket has typically run up to $2,100 in recent years. Now that price is climbing as oil costs rise because of the war in Iran.
Resident Jackie Clifford-Walter said the rising cost of airline tickets sometimes makes her feel stranded.
“I just don't know if it'll be tenable for a lot of folks to live here anymore,” she said. “We travel to go see family, but we also go off the island for medical appointments.”
Clifford-Walter said if tickets climb much higher, her family may only be able to leave the island once every other year.
“I just don't know how practical that's going to be,” she said.
Josh Jacko is general manager and owner-operator of Dena’ina Air, a charter company that flies regularly to and from Unalaska. They operate under Trans Northern Aviation.
He said raising prices is the last thing he wants to do, but the costs keep adding up.
“We try to keep it good for the end consumer,” he said. “We’ll eat a little bit of it, you know, but not too much.”
Dena'ina added a 2.5% surcharge to all its charters in April. Jacko said he held off at first, absorbing the cost while other companies raised their rate. He said Anchorage jet fuel has been running in the $5 range for some time, and they decided to add the surcharge once it topped $6 a gallon.
“We do have to think about keeping the doors open,” he said.
The only commercial airline for the island is Aleutian Airways. In an email to KUCB, a company spokesperson said the airline made several schedule changes in April in response to limited jet fuel supply in Anchorage and rising fuel prices.
Aleutian also added $33.98 per flight to Unalaska and to St. Paul. The airline said the charges are tied directly to fuel costs and are not permanent. Now, a round-trip commercial ticket is up to $2,186.00.
Grant Aviation flies from Unalaska to neighboring communities in the region, like Nikolski, Akun, Atka and the Pribilofs. Grant didn’t immediately respond to an interview request, but its fares did not appear to have changed online as of late May.
Some of the airlines buy their fuel from Delta Western. The company has supplied fuel to Unalaska for decades. In an email, the company said its delivery and inventory fuel cycles help cushion customers from sudden market swings, but declined to say whether their fuel prices have gone up.
Jet fuel is just one part of what Delta Western supplies to the island. It also fuels the commercial fishing fleet, local businesses and homes. The company said its priority is “keeping fuel flowing reliably regardless of broader market conditions.”
ACE Air Cargo flies mail and other supplies to Unalaska daily. The company raised its fuel surcharge from 82% to 85% on May 1, which also increased customer fees.
Jacko, with Dena’ina Air, said fuel is only part of the picture. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of aircraft parts and labor has climbed sharply, and he said the costs keep stacking up: parts, labor and now pricey fuel to top it all off.
“How much can you charge before the consumer decides they just don’t want to pay?” he said. “How high could you go before the customer decides, forget this, we’ll walk?”
So when will prices come back down?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects oil prices to ease later this year, assuming the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East opens up. But the federal organization doesn’t expect prices to return to pre-war levels within the next year.
