ACTIO N 

## SlO-110120-05 7 CONTRO L N O 

### •^. fFARTMEN TO F January19 , 201 1 MISrORlATIO N •:-7'(Y^ER-*T!CN S - - -—— —
Th e Honorabl e Ra yLaHoo d Secretary U.S
. Departmen t o fTransportatio n 120 0 Ne wJerse yAvenue , S.E
. Washington , D.C
. 2059 0 Re : Continuatio n o fAlask a Airlines ' Essentia l Ai rServic e a t Cordova
. Gustavus
. Petersburg
. Wrangell
. an d Yakutat
. Alaska
. Docke t OST-1998-489 9 Dea rSecretaryLaHood : Thi s lette ri s t o expres s stron g support fo rth e selectio n o fAlask a Airline s t o continu e t o provid e essentia l ai rservic e t o ou rcommunity
. Alaska' s curren t patter n o fservic e - usin g je t aircraf t - meet s crucia l need s tha t woul d b e difficult , i fno t impossible , t o mee t wit h an yothe rtyp e o fservic e o raircraf t type : Alaska' s servic e connect s Southeas t Alask a passenger s t o on e o rmor e majo r communitie s o finterest , wit h single-plan e servic e t o Anchorage , Juneau , Ketchika n o r Seattle
. Fro m thes e hubs , ou rcommunit yca n acces s th e airline' s extensiv e rout e syste m an d benefi t fro m it s marketin g relationship s wit h othe rcarriers
. Th e 737-40 0 combinatio n ("combi" ) passenge ran d carg o aircraft , whic h Alask a Airline s propose s t o continu e usin g o n thi s route , provide s freight , mai l an d carg o capacit ytha t a non-je t carrie rsimpl ycanno t provide
. Further , th e 737-40 0 comb i aircraf t i s equippe d wit h Require d Navigatio n Performanc e Technolog yprecisio n technology , whic h enable s th e airlin e t o reliabl yacces s th e airport durin g inclemen t weather , thu s reducin g diversion s an d cancellation s and , i n turn , enablin g peopl e an d product s t o dependabl yreac h th e community
. I n sum , Alaska' s je t servic e i s critica l t o th e economi cwel l bein g o fou r community
. Becaus e o fm ypositio n workin g a t Tidelin e Clini ci n Wrangell , I woul d als o lik e t o poin t ou t tha t Alask a Airline s service s ar e essentia l fo raccessin g certai n type s o fmedica l care . Althoug h medica l specialist s wil l periodicall ycom e t o Wrangel l t o provid e care , ther e ar e man ytime s whe n i t woul d b e detrimenta l fo rpatient s t o wai t unti l th e specialist' s nex t schedule d clinic
. Althoug h ferryservic e i s available , th e ferr yride s ar e length yan d ther e ar e man ycase s i n whic h reliabl e ai rtransportatio n i s essential
. A goo d exampl e o fthi s woul d b e whe n Obstetrica l (OB ) patient s ar e read yt o deliver
. Wrangel l doe s no t offe rLabo ran d Deliveryservice s locally , s o O B patient s mus t trave l t o large rfacilitie s t o deliver
. Becaus e o fth e length yferryrides , th e medica l provider s d o no t recommen d tha t thes e patient s trave l bythi s means . I t i s fel t tha t th e ris k o fgoin g int o labo rdurin g tha t lon g tri p i s to o high
. Instead , the yrecommen d tha t thes e patient s trave l bycommercia l ai r(Alask a Airlines ) becaus e o fit s relativ e reliabilit yan d speed
. Fo rthes e reasons , I respectfull yurg e DO Tt o selec t Alask a Airline s t o continu e t o provid e essentia l ai rservic e t o Southeas t Alaska , a s th e airlin e ha s successfull ydon e fo r mor e tha n thirt yyears .Sincerely ,

Kar a Helgeso n kara.helgeson@akics.or g

cc : Susa n Kuriand , Assistan t Secretaryfo rAviatio n an d Internationa l Affair s Denni s DeVany , Chief , EA S an d Domesti cAnalysi s Th e Honorabl e Sea n Parnell , Governor , Stat e o fAlask a Mar cA
. Luiken , Commissioner , Alask a Stat e Departmen t o fTransportatio n an d Publi cFacilitie sPettiford , Mari e (GST ) From : Kar a Helgeso n [kara.helgeson@akics.org ] Sent : Wednesday , Januar y19 , 201 1 5:0 8 P M To : LaHood , Ra y(OST ) Subject : Lette ro fSupport , Docke t OST-1998-489 9 Attachments : EA S suppor t letter
. Docke t OST-1998-4899.do c Pleas e se e th e attache d lette rofsupport . Th e origina l i s i n th e mail
. Than k you ! Kar a Helgeso n Tidelin e Clini c P.O
. 60x123 1 Wrangell , Alask

a 9992 9 Phon e (907)874-502 5 Fa x(907)874-471 9