Homer may ask the federal government to review its air service as boardings drop

Homer Mayor Rachel Lord is asking the City Council to have the city request a federal review of its air service, citing what the resolution calls less reliable flights.

The council takes up the resolution Monday. It would direct the city manager to ask the U.S. Department of Transportation to review Homer's service under the Essential Air Service program, which was created to keep a minimum level of scheduled flights in small communities. The manager would also work with the department, the state, airport officials and air carriers as needed, then report back to the council.

"Homer's scheduled air service has become less reliable in recent years, and the City wishes to pursue every available option to secure dependable service for the community," the resolution says. It calls reliable flights vital to residents, businesses, visitors, medical travel and emergencies.

Federal Aviation Administration figures show 22,117 boardings at Homer in 2025, down from 27,482 in 2024 and 34,682 in 2023.

Under the program, the department sets a minimum level of service for each eligible community and can subsidize an air carrier to provide it. When a community isn't getting that minimum, it can ask for a review, and the department may then look for a carrier, the resolution says. Homer's standard is 32 weekly departures to Anchorage, year-round, on aircraft with 11 to 30 seats, according to the department's table of Alaska determinations. Homer is not among the department's subsidized Alaska communities as of May.

The resolution does not say whether Homer is getting fewer flights than its standard, and the council packet includes no Homer flight data. It does include an April 2024 letter from Valdez City Manager John Douglas asking the department to find carriers for that town. "Frequent cancellations, and changes to scheduled flights have often left our residents stranded in Anchorage with no other public transit options to return home," he wrote.

In July 2024, the department found Valdez had about five weekly departures against a standard of 58 in summer and 44 the rest of the year. That December it chose Ravn to fly 14 weekly round trips to Anchorage, at a subsidy of about $5.6 million in the first year.

Lord told the council at its Oct. 12 meeting that she would bring the resolution. It is on Monday's consent agenda.