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Alaska senators defend Essential Air Service

February 14th 8:34 pm | Alaska Newspapers Staff Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

In Senate floor speeches today, Alaska's senators strongly defended the need to continue Essential Air Service for 44 rural Alaska communities not connected to the state's road system.

The comments from Senators Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, come in the face of a proposal from Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, to cut funding for the $212 million Essential Air Service, as a savings in federal spending under the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization legislation.

This year's federal deficit is projected to reach $1.6 trillion. President Obama's proposed budget would cut the deficit by $1.1 trillion in 10 years, while House Republicans have called for broader cuts of $2.5 trillion for the same period.

"I agree with Senator McCain that we need to do something to address our nation's budget deficit," Begich said. "But I don't believe you should balance the federal budget on the backs of communities and people facing some of the highest costs of living and toughest conditions in the country. And that is exactly what this McCain amendment would do," he said.

"I can say without any reservation that this amendment would create an economic and a transportation disaster for Alaska, including the loss of jobs, livelihoods and would potentially impact health and medical situations," Murkowski said.

"The complete elimination of the EAS program could destabilize many of our rural communities, could negatively impact the integrity of Alaska's interconnected aviation system and severely reduce air services to essential parts of the state.

"Given what we face with the limited road system, weather and terrain issues, we in the state treat an airplane or helicopters like most Americans would treat their minivans. "Aircraft in Alaska are not just a nice thing to have.

"They are a lifeline for survival, for subsistence, for travel, for recreation. They're truly an essential part of our everyday life."

Begich told fellow senators that he has a stack of letters in his office from communities that would lose all air service if the McCain amendment is adopted, "from individuals in these communities who are terrified about what this would mean for the price of goods in their community," he said. "from those worried about the cost of air travel if they get sick and need to seek medical attention at a hospital. And from small air carriers worried that they will either have to lay off employees or go under altogether."

Begich also cited a letter from Danny Seybert, who runs the Peninsula Airways Service, known as PenAir, founded by his father, Orin Seybert, in 1955.

The younger Seybert notes in his letter to Begich that for many communities, PenAir is the only scheduled passenger air service link to the rest of the world. If the McCain amendment is passed, Seybert said. It "would have a devastating effect on many remote communities in Alaska, on many air carriers who provide those communities with air transportation service, and on Alaska's economy," Seybert said.

 

Alaska Newspapers Staff can be reached at editor@alaskanewspapers.com, or by phone at 907-348-2449

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