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BOX 737 - PELICAN , ALASKA 99832 - PHONE: 735-2202/2203 - FAX: 735-2258 - EMAIL: cityhal l @pelicancity

.org - WEBSITE : www. peli can .net Novembe r 10, 2014 Mr. Todd Homan Director, Office ofAviation Analysis US Department ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey Ave , SE Washi ngton, DC 20590
Dear Mr. Homan, Enclosed is City of Pelican Resolution 2014-12 : A Resolution of the City of Pelican expressing support to the United States Department of Transportation to preserve Pelican's Essential Air Service (EAS) to Juneau , and approve Alaska Seaplanes to Continue EAS Service to Pel ican for another four years. Also enclosed is a copy of a letter, signed by th e mayors of Angoon, P elican and Tenakee Springs, submitted to th e Alaska Congressional Delegation regarding their concerns about th e E AS program. Thank you . S

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# cetvJLru Patricia Phillips M ayor

OFF I CE OF THE MAYOR - PUB LI C WORKS DEPARTMENT - PELICAN HEALTH CLINIC - PELICAN VOLUNTEER F I RE DEPARTME NTCity of Pelican, Alaska PO Box 737 Pelican, Alaska 99832 (907) 735-2202 Fax (907) 735-2258 RESOLUTION 

### 2014 - 12 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF PELICAN EXPRESSING SUPPORT TO THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO PRESERVE PELICAN'S ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE (EAS) TO JUNEAU, AND APPROVE ALASKA SEAPLANES TO CONTINUE EAS SERVICE TO PELICAN FOR ANOTHER FOUR YEARS WHEREAS, Juneau, Alaska is Pelican, Alaska's regional air service hub and scheduled air service to Juneau represents a vital connection to emergency services, basic necessities, and business and leisure travelers, constituting a "community of interest''; and WHEREAS, Pelican is guaranteed scheduled air service under the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, and the United States Department ofTransportation (USDOT) Essential Air Service program; and WHEREAS, the purpose ofthe EAS program is to ensure that communities have air service access where there would not otherwise be access; and WHEREAS, USDDOT is threatening to eliminate Pelican's air service link to Juneau by recognizing less frequent, more expensive and lower capacity service to Sitka as sufficiently constituting "essential air service," despite reduced demand for air service between Sitka and Pelican - a decision that will have significant adverse effects on our community and economy; and WHEREAS, Angoon, Tenakee Springs and Pelican have united to prevent any reduction of air service to Juneau, imploring Alaska's Congressional delegation to prevail upon USDOT referencing the 1980 Civil Aeronautics Board determination that EAS to Angoon, Tenakee Springs and Pelican must be offered from Juneau and Juneau only; and WHEREAS, Alaska Seaplanes operates scheduled essential air service between Juneau and Pelican, and has provided safe and reliable service to Pelican for 17 years carrying passengers, mail and freight; and WHEREAS, Alaska Seaplanes has partnered with the City on a Small Community Air Service grant, a major economic development opportunity designed to improve our ability to market our community to Juneau, the Lower 48 and beyond

. NOWTHEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: The City of Pelican calls on the United States Department of Transportation to reaffirm Essential Air Service to Pelican with access to our longstanding Juneau air service hub, and to expeditiously approve the proposal ofAlaska Seaplanes to continue serving Pelican for no less than another four year term. PAssED, APPRovED AND ADOPTED THis

# Jth DAY oF

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# Signed: **?~ :PJ.~**  Patricia Phillips, Mayor



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Kel y LChap an, City ClerkOctober 

### 27,2014 The Honorable Mark Begich United States Senate Suite 308 One Sealaska Plaza Juneau, AK 99801 TheHonorable Don Young US House ofRepresentatives 

### 4241 B Street Suite 

### 203 Anchorage, 

### AK 99503 Dear Senators and Congressman Young: The Honorable Lisa Murkowski United States Senate 800 GlacierAvenue Suite 

### 101 Juneau, AK 99801



### We are writing to requestyour immediate assistance regarding an urgentcrisis facing our communities-the US Department ofTransportation's threat to cut our Essential Air Senrice (EAS) from Juneau. In a September

### 22, 2014 Request for EAS Proposals, US Department ofTransportation Office of Aviation Analysis (OAA) Director Todd Homan suggested that ifSitka-based Harris Air offers a minimum schedule from Sitkato ourcommunities without subsidy, a service below the level ofessential air service the DOT established 35 years ago for these isolated Alaska communities, DoT will consider terminating ourJuneau Essential Air Service. 1 

### In response, each ofus sent letters to DoT strongly objecting to this threat. We have notyetreceived responses. On October 

### 24, the situation became more serious, as Harris Air has now acted on DOT's invitation and proposed EAS service from Sitkato our communities. Harris proposes lowerfrequency and higher fares to Sitkathan wecurrently enjoy to Juneau. Ourprimary objection is that it will economically cripple ourcommunities to substitute longstanding main-line passenger and US mail service from Juneau for lesser, below-EAS established, service from Sitka. As you know, Angoon, Tenakee Springs, Pelican and Elfin Cove are guaranteed essential air service by the 

### 1978 Airline Deregulation Act. After the 

### 1978 Airline Deregulation Act was signed into law, the thenCivil Aeronautics Board (CAB) fanned out across Alaska seeking community input on servicepatterns, frequencies and " eligible" hubs to meetthe new Essential Air Service requirements. 

### In 1980, the DOT formally established minimum levels of"essential air service" that must be maintained to each ofour communities in DOT Order 

### 80-1-167 (attached). Most importantly, DOT Order 

### 80-1-167 stipulates that essential air service be provided to Juneau, as our hub airport. As described in Determination 

### 80-1-167, the CAB wrote, "Basedon this information, we have made an analysis to determine each point's primary community ofinterest, and to determine which hub or regional centerwould assure the community access to the national airtransportation system." Upon concluding this fact-finding, Juneau was designated the hub for air serviceto and from Angoon, Tenakee, Pelican and Elfin Cove
. Sitka is not even designated as a lesser "regional center " for air service, much less an "FAA hub" for Alaska as Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Seattle are designated. Sitka is not an aviation hub in regulation or in reality. Nor could Sitka even be called a "community ofinterest."

1 See attached Order DOT-OST-2002-11586-0045

### Juneau has been our communities' air service hub, and the hub for all communities in Northern Southeast Alaska, for eighty years. Juneau is our state capitaL Juneau's population supports large scale grocery, equipment and supply businesses such as Costco, Home Depot and Walmart. Juneau is the headquarters for Angoon's village native corporation-Kootznoowoo, Inc., and the headquarters oftheregional native corporation, Sealaska. And Juneau is Alaska Airlines' hub for Southeast, and a destination for Delta Airlines. Angoon, Tenakee and Pelican depend on essential air service operated by Alaska Seaplanes to carry 

### our US mail, from Juneau-where it is processed. It is unclear whether mail could or would be re-rerouted through Sitka, and whether Harris Air's two amphibious aircraft are even capable ofhandling the same mail weight and volume as Alaska Seaplane's five straight-float aircraft. DOT appears to be amending the EAS detennination by footnote, without seeking input from the affected communities. This would set a significant adverse precedent that could dramatically impact service to rural Alaskan communities. Juneau is where many ofour families live. It 

### is where many ofour elders reside. It is where many ofthe second home owners in our communities make their first home. And it is where some ofour locals go for work. USDoT's consideration ofsubstituting a Sitka hub for Juneau disregards their own regulations, flouts 80 years ofestablished service pattern, and defies common sense. The loss ofessential air service to Juneau in favor ofSitka would be socially and economically devastating to our communities. Itmay be 

### easy from a bureaucratic standpoint, sitting 3,000 miles from here, to see two points on a map as equidistant, but that does not make them equal. We seek your immediate assistance to weigh in strongly with the Secretary ofTransportation and ensure that our Juneau essential air service is maintained. Sincerely,

Matt Kookesh, Jr
. MayorofAngoon,Alaska

Don Pegues Mayor ofTenakee Springs, Alaska



# fc,~9~ Patricia Phillips Mayor ofPelican, Alaska

cc: Governor Sean Parnell Dennis Meier, Mayor ofElfin Cove, Alaska Henrich Kadake, Mayor ofKake, Alaska