Tourism’s upward trend continues in Kankakee County

It’s a thrill a minute in Airline World.
Here in Anchorage, there are extra gyrations, due to the extreme seasonal adjustments for tourists in the summer.
There are several changes to the annual draw-down going into the winter regarding nonstop flights.
Most airlines that serve Anchorage pack up and go home for the winter. Fair-weather flyers include WestJet, Air Canada, Condor, Discover Airlines and Sun Country.
American Airlines drops its Anchorage-Chicago route for the winter. But the Anchorage-Dallas nonstop operates every day through Jan. 6, 2026. Then, there’s a two-month break until the Anchorage-Dallas flight starts up again on March 8. American resumes its Anchorage-Chicago nonstop on May 21. Additionally, American is adding a nonstop red-eye to Phoenix from Anchorage on the same day: May 21.
American is a mileage partner with Alaska Airlines. But to get full Atmos Rewards points for your flights, you have to book them at Alaska’s website.
United scales back its hefty summertime schedule for the winter, leaving just a single daily Anchorage-Denver nonstop. United’s Anchorage-Chicago flights operate through Nov. 25, then between Dec. 18 and Jan. 5, before resuming daily operations starting March 5, 2026.
Delta Air Lines offers the only lie-flat seating from Anchorage on its nonstop Anchorage-Atlanta flights. The daily nonstops have ended for the winter, but will resume on May 21, 2026. In the meantime, Delta is flying a wide-body 767 every Saturday with 26 lie-flat Delta One seats.
Delta also offers year-round daily service between Anchorage and Minneapolis, Anchorage-Seattle and Fairbanks-Seattle.
Alaska Airlines scales back its nonstops from Anchorage to San Francisco, New York, Detroit, Salt Lake, Denver, Minneapolis, Sacramento and San Diego for the winter. Alaska suspends its Anchorage-Chicago flights on Oct. 25, resuming the nonstops on March 20, 2026.
Alaska flies Anchorage-Honolulu year-round and resumes Anchorage-Maui and Anchorage-Kona nonstops on Nov. 22. In addition to its robust schedule of 12 daily nonstops between Anchorage and Seattle this winter, Alaska is offering five daily nonstops between Anchorage and Portland. Additionally, there are daily nonstops to Phoenix, twice-weekly nonstops to Las Vegas and almost-daily flights to Los Angeles, three to five flights per week. Alaska also flies nonstop from Fairbanks to Seattle all winter, in addition to its in-state nonstops from Anchorage to Fairbanks, Kodiak, Cordova, King Salmon, Adak, Dillingham, Bethel, Nome, Kotzebue and Utqiagvik (Barrow).
Anchorage travelers expecting some low-fare fireworks from Southwest Airlines’ announced service next summer were disappointed.
More flights typically translates to lower fares anyway. But Southwest always was an outlier among legacy carriers, with lower fares, no bag fees and no pre-assigned seating.
Those days are gone.
Southwest recently announced its flights and fares, starting on May 15, 2026. Its red-eye flights from Anchorage to both Denver and Las Vegas are priced more than $50 higher one-way that Alaska Air’s similar nonstop flights. There are additional charges for bags and pre-assigned seats.
It’s important to remember that all fares are subject to change without notice. And the fares change all the time.
Looking ahead to next summer, most of the nonstop flights will return in late May.
Sun Country Airlines has not filed its flights yet, but plans on offering nonstop flights from Anchorage to Minneapolis starting around May 17.
WestJet is returning with twice-weekly service between Anchorage and Calgary. Once again, the airline is starting late in the season, June 28, and will fly on Fridays and Sundays. WestJet is part of Delta’s SkyTeam alliance.
Air Canada, a member of United’s airline cartel, Star Alliance, will resume daily service from Anchorage to Vancouver, British Columbia, on May 8.
Condor Airlines, an Atmos Rewards partner, is returning with three flights each week between Anchorage and Frankfurt, Germany. The first flight of the season is Saturday , May 16.
Discover Airlines, which also flew Anchorage-Frankfurt, is not returning this summer.
Starting on May 22, Delta is launching a daily nonstop from Anchorage to Los Angeles. Last summer, Delta operated a weekly departure on Saturdays.
Alaska already flies the Anchorage-Los Angeles route, but on May 13, Alaska will launch a second flight, departing Anchorage at 11 a.m.
Travelers from Anchorage to San Francisco next May can choose from two nonstops each day: one each from United and Alaska. Alaska Airlines starts on May 13, while United starts on May 21.
Alaska Airlines is resuming three other seasonal nonstops next Spring. Anchorage-Sacramento Saturday-only flights start on June 13. Saturday-only nonstops from Anchorage to San Diego start a little earlier, on May 16. Daily Fairbanks-Portland flights resume on May 13, 2026.
Delta is resuming many of its Alaska flights in May. From Anchorage to Salt Lake, daily flights resume on May 16. From Anchorage to Detroit, daily flights start again on May 21. On June 7, Delta adds three flights: Fairbanks-Salt Lake City, Fairbanks-Minneapolis and Juneau-Seattle.
United’s biggest day for flight launches to Alaska is on May 21. That’s when daily service resumes for Anchorage-Washington/Dulles, Anchorage-Newark, Anchorage-Houston, Anchorage-San Francisco and Fairbanks-Denver. United’s seasonal nonstop from Fairbanks to Chicago starts earlier, on April 30.
Alaska Airlines’ longest flight, Anchorage-New York/JFK, resumes on June 10. Alaska also offers Saturday-only service between Anchorage and Detroit. This year, Alaska will fly on Fridays and Saturdays nonstop between Anchorage and Salt Lake.
There are many more flight combinations available with a connection. But the nonstop option almost always is the best choice. Travelers in Anchorage are very fortunate to enjoy such a diverse collection of flights to Hawaii, the Lower 48, Canada and Europe!