We are celebrating the people at our cargo stations across the state of Alaska and the communities they serve. For other stories in this series, check out more People of Cargo.
STATION SPOTLIGHT: Nome (OME)
STATION FACT: The Nome station partners with a local Native nonprofit in an award-winning program to ship thousands of pounds of recyclable waste out of the community each year. Station details
TEAM SPOTLIGHT: Michael and Tristen, ramp service agents
YEARS WITH ALASKA AIRLINES: Michael, about 18 months, and Tristen, almost one year
ALASKA LIFE FUN FACT: Gold-mining TV shows like Discovery’s “Bering Sea Gold” film regularly around Nome, which was the site of the state’s original Gold Rush. Gold was first discovered near Nome in 1899 and gold mining continues in the region today. “We move a lot of the TV equipment in and out — camera equipment, tripods, big black boxes full of stuff,” Michael said.
Every morning year-round, an Alaska Air Cargo 737 freighter touches down in Nome (OME), full of groceries, mail and supplies bound for the homes and businesses of this Bering Sea port city and its surrounding communities. With regular Alaska Airlines passenger flights filled with belly cargo landing before and after the freighter, ramp service agents like Michael and Tristen have a mere 45 minutes to unload the shipments and fill the planes back up with outbound shipments like fresh-caught seafood.
“The residents and stores of the villages and the town rely on us being able to get their freight out to them,” Tristen said. The schedule means the team must work efficiently, and though he’s new to the team, Tristen enjoys the quick turnaround. “My favorite aspect of the job is the manual labor, and there’s a lot of manual labor with this job,” he said.
The team also plays a key part in loading pallets of recyclable electronic waste gathered from communities around Nome and shipping them to recycling plants in Seattle. Now finishing its second summer, the program was the brainchild of another Alaska Airlines ramp service agent and works in partnership with Kawerak, a local Alaska Native nonprofit that gathers the recyclables.
The program’s goal is to carry out 50,000 pounds of waste each year, and the cargo team hopes to eventually partner with other communities around the state, said Jeff Olver, director of cargo operations for Seattle and the state of Alaska. “This starts with Nome but has the potential to benefit a lot of communities,” Olver said.
On a busy spring day after the morning passenger and freighter flights had been loaded and departed, Michael and Tristen took a few minutes to talk about what life is like on the ramp in Nome.
You both started working with the cargo team relatively recently; what are you enjoying most about the work?
Tristen: “It’s been a treat learning all the different aspects that go into the job. Each day, we do our vehicle checks [for trucks used for loading and deliveries]. And we juggle passenger flights along with freighters, so it keeps you on your feet and teaches you to focus.”
Michael: “I’ve been enjoying gaining new experiences and learning new skills. We supply the grocery stores, restaurants — pretty much the whole town — and so we get to know people on their jobs and get a lot more information about what’s going on through town.”
What are some of the cargo products you manage during the summer season?
Michael: “Throughout the summer, we have [Arctic expedition] sea cruises come into Nome, and there are actually flights that have nothing but the cruise passengers and a bunch of pallets of food for all the different cruises. Sometimes that will be 20 pallets at a time. We also get a lot of crab and fish [flying out] during the summer.”
And are there some unique shipments that happen only during the winter?
Michael: “During the winters, we usually move a bunch of dogs after the end of the Iditarod [dog sled race that ends in Nome]. I like seeing the dogs come through.”
What’s involved in the shipments that come through for the gold mining TV shows?
Tristen: “I’ve been out in person to a couple of their sites, and it’s pretty wild how much work they put in. We’ll end up moving over 1,000 pounds of just camera equipment, and they also ship up the food and supplies that they need, so we supply that for them as well. They even come up here in the winter when the miners actually dive under the ice to mine gold.”
How does it feel to be such an integral part of getting supplies out to businesses and homes in the community where you live?
Tristen: “We’re such a big supplier for our entire region, and even the mail comes through us …There are a lot of livelihoods that depend on us.”
Michael: “I was born and raised here. It feels like we’re fulfilling a purpose by helping out the town.”
Freighter schedule
