Why Is Alaska Airlines Advertising ‘Getaways’ to Remote Arctic Oil Fields?

In February, daily high temperatures average -11 degrees Fahrenheit.

Airline ads on the internet are pretty standard, typically advertising an attractive fare and a call to action to book the flight, typically using upbeat language like “getaway” or “escape”. 

A recent Alaska Airlines advertisement served on Facebook did exactly that, but the destination the ad was promoting raised some eyebrows—particularly among Alaskans who were long familiar with that particular “dot” on the airline’s route map. 

The destination was Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, on the state’s northern coast with the Arctic Ocean, colloquially referred to by Alaskans as “The North Slope” or simply “The Slope.” Prudhoe Bay is where the majority of Alaska’s crude oil production is extracted before being pumped via pipeline 800 miles to the port at Valdez, Alaska, for shipment to refineries outside Alaska. To anybody familiar with Prudhoe Bay, the use of the term “getaway” is almost laughable. 

The unincorporated community of Deadhorse, Alaska—home to the Deadhorse Airport—is estimated to have just a few dozen permanent residents (along with a name that seems almost designed to discourage visitor interest). Most of the roughly three thousand temporary residents in the Prudhoe Bay region are oil field workers on multiweek duty stretches who permanently live elsewhere. During their stay, they’re accommodated in dormitory-style hotels with cafeteria dining and a few other basic amenities. Possession of alcohol in Prudhoe Bay is prohibited.

There are, in fact, a handful of visitors to Prudhoe Bay. Most overnight there at the end of a sightseeing trip up the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks, and virtually all leisure visitors make the journey during the summer months—not in February, when daily high temperatures average -11 degrees Fahrenheit, and the sun rises above the horizon for just over four hours each day near the beginning of the month.

The airline describes Prudhoe Bay similarly on its website: “Home to the largest oil field in North America, life in Prudhoe Bay centers on providing resources and support to those who work there. While access to Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean is mostly restricted to oil field workers, you can see the area with the help of local authorized tour companies. Experienced guides can take you on a journey down the rugged 414-mile Dalton Highway, or ‘Haul Road’ as Alaskans call it.” The site further notes the beauty of the Yukon River region, and opportunities to see wildlife ranging from white arctic foxes to caribou and eagles, although virtually all tours to the Yukon River region depart from more convenient Fairbanks.

At least one of the lodging options in Deadhorse operates a summertime shuttle to the Arctic Ocean for curious visitors who want to dip their toes in the icy waters. Because of the safety and security-sensitive nature of the surrounding oil fields, guests must book with enough advance notice for a background check to be run. The camp operating the shuttle notes that it is not a tour, just a roundtrip shuttle bus for travelers to mark the site off their list. The Arctic Ocean, like the oil fields, is otherwise inaccessible to the public in Prudhoe Bay.

Flights to Prudhoe Bay are also not cheap. The Facebook ad offered seats on the nearly two-hour flight from Anchorage starting at $449 one-way. A commenter noted that flights from Anchorage to Miami were less expensive. It’s worth noting, however, that the extreme remoteness of the airport and the cost of operating full-size jets—with relatively low numbers of seats filled—necessitates higher fares to support the economic viability of the flights.

Alaska Airlines began service to Prudhoe Bay in 1981, and is the only major airline with year-round scheduled jet service to the airport. The airline is a lifeline for Prudhoe Bay, providing passenger, cargo, and mail service to support the workers there on assignment. 

So why is the airline advertising flights there on Facebook? 

In an e-mailed response, an Alaska Airlines spokesperson told Fodor’s that while Prudhoe Bay does get some leisure traffic, that particular Facebook advertisement was an error, and would be adjusted. 

Such an error reflects the distinctive nature of the Alaska Airlines route map. Most other airlines would easily and without question advertise virtually any city in their network. Telling prospective passengers where you fly and how much a ticket costs is certainly base business for many airline marketers, and few—if any—other airline destinations in the US served by major carriers would need online ads “turned off”. 

Even for Alaska Airlines, Prudhoe Bay is extraordinary. The airline serves its share of remote or smaller destinations in Alaska, but none are as distinctively “un-getaway-like” as Prudhoe Bay. Adak, in the far west of the Aleutian Islands, the site of a former US Naval base, has a population of just 154, but even there visitors can find amenities like lodging and activities (although they must purchase a land use permit from the local Aleut Corporation to support land stewardship). 

Each of the airline’s other 18 destinations in Alaska has enough visitor interest that it would be typical to promote as a destination online.