### THE STATE 

## of



# ALASKA

GOY E R NOR SEAN P A R N ELI.

June 24, 2014

Mr. Kevin Schlemmer Chief, EAS and Domestic Analysis Division U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jer sey Avenue SE Washington DC 20590 

## Department of Transportation and Public Facilities DI V I S I ON OF S TATEWIDE A VI ATIO N
P.O. Box 196900 Anc 1 1orage, Alaska 99 5 1 9 - 6900 Main : 907
. 269
. 0730

F ax: 907.269.0489

Re : Air Transportation to No n -Eligible Places , Diomede , Alaska (DM2) Dock e t DOT-OST

- 2 009-0260
Dear Mr. Schl emmer This le tter is to express our support for the continuation of the Essential Air Service (EAS) and Air Tran s portation to No n- E li gib le Places (ATNEP) program s in Alas ka and the crucial connection the y bring to our remote communities. Under E ssential Air Service (EAS) a ll of funding ne cessary to ensure a community access to the national transportation sys tem is provided by the Federal Government. However becau se Diome de did not have scheduled air service when EAS program was created, it was NOT li sted as an EAS

-eli g ible community. Thus this v ital helicopter service is subsidized under the 49 U.S.C § 41736 , Air Transportation to N oneligible Places (A TNEP) program , which provide s that any subsid y provided b y a non-f e deral e ntity wi ll be matched by U.S
. DOT on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Cunently Diomede ' s servic e and subsidy under ATNEP is set b y Order 20 1 3-6-1 1 , June 11 , 20 1 3 , which selected Evergreen Helicopters Inc. to provide the service throu gh June 30 , 2014 when the selection expires. Order 2013-6-11 subs idi zes one round trip per week between Diomede and Nome and betwe en Diomede and Wales for 44 weeks per year. The State of Alaska , Department of Commerce, Community, and Econom ic Development provides $ 188 , 760 annual s ub sidy via a grant to Diomed e's community repre sentative , Kawerak Inc ., with U.S. DOT providing a like amount to the air service provider. The State of Alaska under stand s thi s arrangement wi ll continue with air service to be provided by E rick son Helicopters Inc
. beginning Jul y 1 , 2014 for two ye ar s depending on fundin g avai lability.
"Keep A laska Mov ing through serv ice and infrastruct ure."Neither the ATNEP program nor the State of Alaska have conditions or requirements that specifie s the ticket price that Erickson Helicopters Inc. may charge the flying public. After a ll , the air service company i s a private for-profit bu s ine ss that need s to make a profit. However we a l so understand that due to the iso lated location of Little Diomede I s land and the complete lack of any road sys tem connection , thi s s ub s idi zed air serv ice i s the community's only form of sc heduled tran s portation
. The community depends on scheduled air freight , pa ssenger , and mail service for basic necess ities , routine m e dical and health services, and economic welfare. While the State of Alaska provides a 50% matching grant through Kawerak , th e State continues to asse11 that the local re s idents are generally bes t po s itioned to comment on particular sc he dule s or air carriers, and the r e fore we think the community s hould provide comments to yo u on tho se spec ific iss ue s . I re s pec tfully urge U.S. DOT to continue the ATNEP program serv ice at Diom ed e, Alaska. Sincerely

Judy Chapman, C.M. Divi s ion Operation s Manager