ACTIO N 

SlO-110120-057 

CONTROL NO 

• ^.f FARTMENT OF 

January 19, 2011 MISrORlATION 

• :-7'(Y^ER-*T!CNS - - -—— — 

The Honorable Ray LaHood 

Secretary 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Re: Continuation of Alaska Airlines' Essential Air Service at Cordova. Gustavus. 

Petersburg. Wrangell. and Yakutat. Alaska. Docket OST-1998-4899 

Dear Secretary LaHood: 

This letter is to express strong support for the selection of Alaska Airlines to continue to 

provide essential air service to our community. 

Alaska's current pattern of service - using jet aircraft - meets crucial needs that would 

be difficult, if not impossible, to meet with any other type of service or aircraft type: 

Alaska's service connects Southeast Alaska passengers to one or more major 

communities of interest, with single-plane service to Anchorage, Juneau, Ketchikan or 

Seattle. From these hubs, our community can access the airline's extensive route 

system and benefit from its marketing relationships with other carriers. The 737-400 

combination ("combi") passenger and cargo aircraft, which Alaska Airlines proposes to 

continue using on this route, provides freight, mail and cargo capacity that a non-jet 

carrier simply cannot provide. Further, the 737-400 combi aircraft is equipped with 

Required Navigation Performance Technology precision technology, which enables the 

airline to reliably access the airport during inclement weather, thus reducing diversions 

and cancellations and, in turn, enabling people and products to dependably reach the 

community. In sum, Alaska's jet service is critical to the economic well being of our 

community. 

Because of my position working at Tideline Clinic in Wrangell, I would also like to point 

out that Alaska Airlines services are essential for accessing certain types of medical 

care. Although medical specialists will periodically come to Wrangell to provide care, 

there are many times when it would be detrimental for patients to wait until the 

specialist's next scheduled clinic. Although ferry service is available, the ferry rides are 

lengthy and there are many cases in which reliable air transportation is essential. A 

good example of this would be when Obstetrical (OB) patients are ready to deliver. 

Wrangell does not offer Labor and Delivery services locally, so OB patients must travel 

to larger facilities to deliver. Because of the lengthy ferry rides, the medical providers do 

not recommend that these patients travel by this means. It is felt that the risk of going 

into labor during that long trip is too high. Instead, they recommend that these patients 

travel by commercial air (Alaska Airlines) because of its relative reliability and speed. 

For these reasons, I respectfully urge DOT to select Alaska Airlines to continue to 

provide essential air service to Southeast Alaska, as the airline has successfully done for 

more than thirty years. 
Sincerely, 

Kara Helgeson 

kara.helgeson@akics.org 

cc: Susan Kuriand, Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs 

Dennis DeVany, Chief, EAS and Domestic Analysis 

The Honorable Sean Parnell, Governor, State of Alaska 

Marc A. Luiken, Commissioner, Alaska State Department of Transportation and 

Public Facilities 
Pettiford, Marie (GST) 

From: Kara Helgeson [kara.helgeson@akics.org] 

Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 5:08 PM 

To: LaHood, Ray (OST) 

Subject: Letter of Support, Docket OST-1998-4899 

Attachments: EAS support letter. Docket OST-1998-4899.doc 

Please see the attached letter of support. The original is in the mail. Thank you! 

Kara Helgeson 

Tideline Clinic 

P.O. 60x1231 

Wrangell, Alaska 99929 

Phone (907)874-5025 

Fax (907)874-4719