Essential Air Service at Zachar Bay and Port Bailey, Alaska

Order 2007-1-5
OST-2000-6945

Issued and Served January 9, 2007

Order to Show Cause Terminating Subsidy

As is our normal practice in dealing with EAS issues in the State of Alaska, we contacted the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to discuss the air service at Port Bailey and Zachar Bay, Alaska. (49 U.S.C. 41732 grants the State of Alaska some statutory authority over service levels within the State, and it typically acts as the spokesman for the communities.) After several discussions between the State and Department staff, the State informally indicated that it had conferred with local authorities, and, based upon the extremely low numbers of passengers, would not object to our discontinuing subsidy support for this service. The State also indicated that it retained its right to request the restart of service in the future, should circumstances warrant.

We appreciate the important role that the State plays in EAS matters within Alaska. It has always taken a very practical view of the EAS needs in Alaska, and it has again done that here. Based on the State’s informal comments, we will tentatively discontinue subsidy support for Port Bailey and Zachar Bay. Given the limited historical traffic at these two communities, it appears that it would be inappropriate to continue subsidizing their air service. Nonetheless, in order to give the communities full process, we establish a 20-day period during which they can object to our tentative decision. In order to allow for an orderly shutdown of service, absent any objections, we will continue to subsidize Servant for its service to Port Bailey and Zachar Bay through April 30, 2007, the ending date of the current contract set by Order 2005-3-4.

By: Andrew Steinberg