I Did the Alaska Airlines Milk Run - Flight AS65

I've written a bit about some aviation-focused trips I've done.

The milk run is a pretty interesting flight that Alaska does (well, technically it's multiple flights) that's mostly responsible for cargo, as well as being the only flights in and out of a couple of small southeast Alaska towns. Alaska Airlines can do a better job explaining than I can, here.

This is some total avgeek stuff. Of course Alaska, especially southeast Alaska, is absolutely beautiful from the sky, but it's not exactly the quickest way to get from Ketchikan from Anchorage. You're turning what could be a nonstop 2.5-ish hour flight into an over 5 hour flight with 3 stops.

There are actually multiple of different Milk Run "flights", it's not just one path. There's AS65, which I did, but also AS61 (Juneau-Yakutat-Cordova-Anchorage), AS66 (Cordova-Yakutat-Juneau-Seattle), AS64 (Juneau-Petersburg-Wrangell-Ketchikan – this flight is the inverse of the one I did), AS62 (Anchorage-Juneau-Sitka-Ketchikan-Seattle), and finally AS67 (Ketchikan-Sitka-Juneau-Anchorage). Some obviously go North and some go South. While I highly recommend AS65 (or 64), I'm sure you can't go wrong with any of them.

I actually was talking to a bartender during my overnight in Ketchikan and she said residents always try and avoid this flight when making the trip up to Anchorage, unsurprisingly.

If you know me, or follow this blog at all, you shouldn't be surprised I booked this with points. I was able to get the entire Milk Run stretch (AS65) in first class for 25k Alaska points one way, in a window seat, of course. First class here makes all the difference as this 737 is really your next home for over 5 hours. Unfortunately, during the Wrangell (WRG) and Petersburg (PSG) stops you can't get off the plane and stretch your legs either, but you can when stopping at Ketchikan (KTN).

I did this trip pretty quickly, on what was essentially a long weekend. I flew from SFO to SEA, then onto Ketchikan where I arrived in the evening. I scheduled in a full-day the following day to check out Ketchikan. The weather wasn't the greatest but I wasn't sure when I'd have another opportunity to visit Ketchikan. This was my second time in Alaska and I actually love the state – I think it's super underrated despite the obvious natural beauty. Ketchikan is an amazing town and I highly recommend a stopover if you can. I would have loved to do some hiking but the weather and my schedule didn't really allow it. Despite that, the town is super cute and has some great things to check out for a day.

"The Milk Run"

On to the main event, Alaska Flight 65, Ketchikan to Anchorage with stops in Wrangell, Petersburg, and Juneau.

We started strong with the first leg from Ketchikan to Wrangell (Ketchikan airport actually requires a ferry to get to and from, as the airport is on an island west of the actual city).

Taking pictures from a plane window is always a pain, especially on older planes like the one Alaska uses for this flight. The dirt and scratches get in the way as well as mess with the autofocus of your camera or phone.

What's really interesting about the KTN->WRG and WRG->PSG legs is how quick they are, which means you're much closer to the ground than you typically would be flying over Alaska, giving you a great look at the scenery. I was nervous days prior and religiously checking the weather hoping the weather was going to be mostly clear – and thankfully it was.

I think the WRG->PSG leg was the "coolest" one in my opinion. My Flighty shows only 9 mins of total time in the air, and it was by far my shortest flight in 2025 (of 62 flights), and could be the shortest commercial flight I take in my life. This leg typically doesn't even get to an altitude of 3000 feet, which is insane for a jet.

Both Wrangell and Petersburg are very small airports, and they both essentially amount to a single building that handles everything. Of course, only Alaska Airlines flies into either of these as far as major commercial airlines go, but Alaska has a huge general aviation culture.

I've got to say, I really never got bored during any of the flights. Like I said, I'd been wanting to do this for a couple of years and was glad the stars finally aligned so I was pretty excited to take it all in. First class made a huge difference, and don't even bother doing this without a window seat.

Ketchikan

As I said before, I had a full day in Ketchikan to walk around and explore. The weather was misty, but not pouring, so I

was able to essentially cover the whole city on foot by staying downtown near the cruise ferry terminal.

I absolutely love the native American vibes and imagery that the Pacific Northwest has, especially southeast Alaska. The Totem Heritage Center was an amazing spot to learn about the history of totems in southeast Alaska, and the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center is worth a stop, too.

The natural beauty doesn't stop in Ketchikan proper just because it's a city, either. Plenty of trees, mountains, and flowing water make it well worth spending a few hours walking around aimlessly. I highly recommend following the Ketchikan Salmon Walk.

Overall, if you're interested in some of the obscure flights out there or just seeing southeast Alaska's beauty from above, I can't recommend the Milk Run flight enough. An amazing experience from start to finish and I'm so glad the weather cooperated. Next up, the United Island Hopper 😄.