The spectacular eruption of Alaska’s Mount Pavlof had a not-so-spectacular effect on airline schedules today: Alaska Airlines said it had to cancel 41 flights to and from six cities in northern Alaska due to the massive ash cloud emanating from Pavlof.

More than 3,000 passengers were affected by today’s cancellations, Alaska Airlines said in a travel advisory. Flights to Barrow, Bethel, Fairbanks, Kotzebue, Nome and Prudhoe Bay are suspended until the airline can assess weather reports after dawn Tuesday.

Anchorage’s KTVA TV said Bering Air, PenAir and Ravn Alaska canceled flights this morning, but at least some of those airlines returned to normal schedules later in the day.

Mount Pavlof, 600 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula, is one of the state’s most consistently active volcanoes. The 8,261-foot peak began erupting on Sunday afternoon, sending ash to heights in excess of 20,000 feet.

KTVA quoted public safety officer Barrett Taylor as saying more than an eighth of an inch of ash had blanketed much of the Aleutian community of Nelson Lagoon. “It was basically raining ash,” Taylor said.

The ash poses significant safety concerns to aircraft on the ground and in the air, because it limits visibility and damages engines. “We simply won’t fly where ash is present,” said John Ladner, Alaska Airlines’ director of operations. Airline employees stocked up on personal protective gear as well as air filters and plastic to cover engines and other airplane parts.

In an advisory issued this evening, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Alaska Volcano Observatory said that Pavlof’s “robust eruptive activity … has declined for now” but added that the ash cloud was still drifting across Alaska’s interior and may pose a hazard to air travel. The observatory’s volcano alert status was lowered from Code Red (warning) to Code Orange (watch).

To check Alaska Airlines’ flight status, check AlaskaAir.com or call 1-800-ALASKA-AIR (1-800-252-7522).

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