Adak to get scheduled service

[GuppyPuppy]

Just read this on Yahoo airline news.

Alaska Airlines will serve Adak twice per week from Anchorage with a stop in King Salmon.

Now that's cool!

Cheers!

GP

 

[mar]

Collective sigh of relief

I bet everyone on ADK just breathed a big sigh of relief--no more metroliners!!

 

[Twotter76]

Yes I bet both of them are very happy indeed.

 

[A Squared]

>>>>>Alaska Airlines will serve Adak twice per week from Anchorage with a stop in King Salmon.

Yep, brought to the citizens of adak by a small deduction from your payroll. The DOT is paying a big chunk of cash in essential air service subsidies to get Alaska to fly out there. A few months ago I read the various proposals fro essential air service for Adak. Alaska was of course the most expensive by far. 1.7 million a year seems to stick in my mind, but I could be wrong. Why are we paying millions of dollars so that the people who chose to live in Adak (both of them) can have a 737 show up on their doorstep twice a week?

regards

 

[Singlecoil]

Why are we paying millions of dollars so that the people who chose to live in Adak (both of them) can have a 737 show up on their doorstep twice a week?

Because it is a mothballed military facility that has been determined to be in the national interest to maintain. If desired, they can ramp it back up in short order to house a few thousand people.

 

[A Squared]

>>>>Because it is a mothballed military facility

Nope, not true at all. Effective this past October, the facilities at Adak have been sold to the Aleut Native Corporation. This includes the port facilities, the fuel storage facility, the airport, and the base buildings and housing. In short, everything of any military value has been sold. If you plan to re-open a military facility, you don't sell it to a civilian entity which you have no control over.

Current military presence on Adak: 4 persons.

I'm sure the at the DOD could supply 4 persons more economically that flying a 737 there 2 times a week. The subsidy is just that; a subsidy, the travelers (even DoD travelers) will still have to pay $1100 for a ticket.

No, the EAS contract is not for the military, it's for the residents of Adak, all 316 of them.

Does anyone really believe that a village of 316 persons really needs 2 737 flights a week? Even in 5 pallet Combi configuration Alaska's 737's have 26 seats. Do 52 people (or anywhere close to 52) really want to fly, or can even afford to fly from a village of 316 every week? that's 8 round trips to Anchorage a year for each resident.

It's just another giveaway of your money (1.65 million of it, I checked) so a few people can ride a jet instead of a metroliner

regards

 

[dkwid]

I think it is more significant what will be in the cargo bays. As all the small communities in Alaska air service is the primary means for transportation of mail and other supplys.

You may have a point about people choosing to live there....but...probably not.

If you want to blast ES. Why not target Moses Lake WA. and other such cities in WY and MT. All these cities have federally funded Highways and sometimes Interstates running through them.

Please, supply a link to your info on the ES contract to Adak. I would like to read aboout it.

 

[A Squared]

>>>>As all the small communities in Alaska air service is the primary means for transportation of mail and other supplys.

yeah, I know, that's how I make a living, hauling cargo to small communities in Alaska, but none as amall as Adak .... usually a community that size is served by 207s and Navajos

gotta run, but I'll try to give you some links later.

regards

 

[A Squared]

Here’s a link to the federal docket for the EAS contract for Adak.

http://dms.dot.gov/search/searchResultsSimple.cfm?numberValue=8556&searchType=docket

The link should show all documents on the docket. There’s a second page. The Docket number is OST-2000-8556-63

Yeah, I agree with you on the EAS in the Northwest. I’ve been in small towns in Montana and seen an empty Metroliner pull up on the ramp, no one gets off, no one gets on, then they go on the next town. Just doesn’t make sense when there’s perfectly good highways. Hey, you want to go to Great Falls or Billings, drive, or pay what it *really* costs to fly there. Don’t expect me to reach into my pocket and pay for 75% of your fare.

I misspoke when I said that the Alaska proposal was the most expensive. There were other more expensive proposals, but they proposed greater frequency. I have no doubt that Alaska will provide good service as per their contract. I just don’t see why taxpayers should be paying millions so the villagers can ride a jet direct to Anchorage, when they are only 400 miles from Dutch Harbor, which already has regular jet service to Anchorage. The $1.65 million is just another of huge taxpayer gifts that Adak is getting. First the Aleut Corporation gets the naval base, complete with a deep water port and complete port facilities, the largest fuel storage facility in Western Alaska, an airport with 2 - 7000 ft plus runways designed for heavy jets, and most or all of the base facilities. Did I say it was *sold* to them in an earlier post? I’m sorry, what I meant was that it was *given* to them, In return for the base , valued at around a billion dollars, the Aleut Corporation is giving the government 46,000 acres (about 8 miles on a side, if it was all in one chunk) of undeveloped land of little or no economic value in one of the most uninhabited and inhospitable locations on this planet. Such a deal!

That’s just the beginning. Currently, Adak is the recipient of more than 32 million dollars in State and Federal funding for various projects. That’s over 100,000 dollars of your money for every man, woman, and child on the island. Highlights of the funding include: 3 million dollars to renovate the facilities for their new use (it’s not enough that it’s free, we have to renovate to their specs too) 6.77 million to maintain and operate the facilities .... ok let me get this straight, they get the facilities for essentially free, but we get the bills for operating and maintaining them. Hmm, wish I could get a deal like that on my house. 16.5 million to improve runway safety areas. 1 million to remove airport obstructions, 1.5 million to rehabilitate the runways. Hey, if were going to have 121 jet service, we need crash and fire rescue .... ok, here’s .9 million to get ARFF started. The list goes on .......... 32 million dollars, and that’s just the start. Anyone want to bet that there’s going to be a couple of million dollars to re-commission the ILS that they de-commissioned a few years ago? So, how much is the Aleut Corporation contributing to all this economic development? They’re digging deep into their pockets and coming up with a staggering 2.5 million dollars of their own money.

Sorry for the diatribe, but I just get sick and tired of seeing millions and millions of public money spent for the exclusive benefit of a few hundred people. The EAS contract is just the latest. Nothing against Alaska Airlines, if the money is being spent, it might as well be them to get it as anyone else.

regards

 

[Singlecoil]

Thank you Ted "pork barrel" Stevens. What really amazes me is that most Alaskans consider themselves to be independent and very conservative. Yet when you consider how much money the feds pour into the state, compared to how much is paid to the feds in the way of taxes and fees, the whole place resembles a welfare state.
Thanks for the new terminals at the Anchorage Airport, I'm sorry the Ted Stevens airport, complete with train station. Now Frank Murkowski wants to build a road across the Alaska range when the state can't even find the money to plow the ones they already have. Don't worry, Alaskans have a rich uncle to foot the bill.

 

[inline]

Thank you Ted "pork barrel" Stevens. What really amazes me is that most Alaskans consider themselves to be independent and very conservative. Yet when you consider how much money the feds pour into the state, compared to how much is paid to the feds in the way of taxes and fees, the whole place resembles a welfare state.
Thanks for the new terminals at the Anchorage Airport, I'm sorry the Ted Stevens airport, complete with train station. Now Frank Murkowski wants to build a road across the Alaska range when the state can't even find the money to plow the ones they already have. Don't worry, Alaskans have a rich uncle to foot the bill.

If Alaska is so poor are you going to volunteer your $1200.00 permanent Fund Dividend check to help the gov. or charity? Didn't think so.

 

[dkwid]

Squared,

Thanks for the link and the info.

I agree with your sentiments. It is outragous where tax dollars go at times. "He who lobbys the strongest"......unfortunate to say the least.

Keep us informed and stay safe this winter...your half way there.

 

[Singlecoil]

If Alaska is so poor are you going to volunteer your $1200.00 permanent Fund Dividend check to help the gov. or charity? Didn't think so.

No, but I would support a sales tax or some form of tax on services that effectively targets tourists. I know what that Permanent Fund check means to rural Alaskans and don't feel we should talk about taking money away from already horribly depressed communities.