Don Pegues 

MAYOR 

citytke@gmail.com 

Mr. Todd Homan 

Director, Office of Aviation Analysis 

US Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE 

Washington, DC 20590 

October 15, 2014 

Dear Mr. Homan: 

P.O. Box 52 

Tenakee Springs, Alaska 99841 

Phone 907-736-2207 

Fax 907-736-2249 

., .. .! 

•·· 

'' 

.... I 

;,, .: 

The City of Tenakee Springs strongly objects to that portion of your order 2014-9-13 dated September 22, 

2014, indicating the Department may be considering termination of subsidized essential air service 

between Tenakee Springs and Juneau, Alaska. 

In his letter to you dated September 26, 2014, Angoon Mayor Matt Kookesh speaks for all of us, and 

speaks well. Tenakee Springs and Angoon share the same flight pattern and our requirements are 

basically the same. 

Juneau has always been the hub of air transport for our area and must remain as our EAS connection. 

Juneau was established as our hub city when Alaska Southern Airways established the first scheduled 

service in Northern Southeast Alaska in early 1934. Later in 1934, Pan American Airways purchased 

Alaska Southern and announced expansion of scheduled service, which included Tenakee Springs and 

Angoon. At a later date, after failing to receive the award of a U.S. Mail contract for the area, Pan 

American elected to pull out of the Southeast Alaska floatplane operation and concentrate on their 

headquarters Alaska land base in Fairbanks. 

The floatplane operation in our area was then picked up by Juneau-based Alaska Air Transport. This firm 

morphed in to Alaska Coastal Airlines which over the years became a large regional carrier that 

eventually merged with present day Alaska Airlines. Following the merger, Alaska Airlines discontinued 

all water based operations and passed the mantle of schedule floatplane service to emerging small 

earners. 
··CITY OF TENAKEE SPRINGS 

The first small carrier to provide Angoon/Tenakee scheduled service was Channel Flying Service, 

followed by Wings of Alask~ then Alaska Seaplanes, our current carrier, all Juneau based. 

During the peak years of area timber harvesting, 1960's and 1970's, limited scheduled air service between 

Tenakee and Sitka was provided by Channel Flying Service out of Juneau, later followed by Bell Air, 

based in Sitka. Scheduled service was discontinued when the timber industry shut down. Present day air 

service Sitka/Tenakee is provided on a charter basis by Harris Air Service of Sitka. 

Due to lack of passenger/cargo demand, these flights are few and far between. Harris Air does continue 

to provide scheduled service Sitka/ Angoon. 

And that is a brief history of our air service. 

All of Tenakee's economic and social ties are with Juneau, not with Sitka. As written by Angoon Mayor 

Matt Kookesh, "the abandonment of service to Juneau in favor of less frequent and reduced capacity 

service to Sitka would be economically devastating to our communities." 

Sincerely, 

194 7-1978 -Director - Pan American World Airways, Alaska- Fairbanks AK 

1979-2011- Tenakee Agent- Channel Flying, Wings of Alaska, Alaska Seaplanes 

Cc US Senator Mark Begich 

US Senator Lisa Murkowski 

Representative Don Young