Juneau International Airport

Juneau's airport began in the 1920s and 1930s on flat land left behind by a glacier in the Mendenhall Valley. That spot sits about nine miles northwest of downtown, one of the few flat places in a city squeezed between steep mountains and water. Early flights were mixed: floatplanes used the nearby waters, while wheeled planes used a gravel strip.

Juneau has never had a road link to the rest of North America, so flying was never just a convenience. It has always been the only fast way in or out. Over the following decades the runway was paved and lengthened, reaching its current length of about 8,500 feet. The terminal was built and expanded many times, most recently through a long, much needed renovation finished in the 2010s.

Alaska Airlines and its predecessors created what pilots call the milk run, a nickname for a chain of short hops linking southeast Alaska's coastal towns one after another. It remains the backbone of the schedule. Pilots call Juneau one of the toughest airports in the country. Mountains rise on both sides, low clouds and strong winds are common, and crews need training to fly its satellite guided approach routes.

Juneau has a single runway, 08/26, about 8,500 feet long, plus a float pond next to it for seaplanes. Everything is squeezed into the Mendenhall Valley, with mountains rising on both sides. Alaska Airlines provides the jet service, flying its southeast Alaska milk run with 737s that stop at several small towns on the way to Anchorage or Seattle.

These flights often carry cargo too, in a combi setup that mixes passenger seats with freight space in the same plane. Smaller operators fly floatplanes and light aircraft out to villages that have no runway at all. Weather closes the airport often, and its satellite guided approach routes thread carefully between the mountains, so crews need special training to fly them.