The story building a taxpayer funded $70 million airport on a very remote Aleutian island, originally surfaced in the Alaska Dispatch paper and was somehow re-hashed by a Yahoo contributor.
Negated were today’s facts of life in Alaska, especially on remote islands. There are no roads. Everything is transported by air or sea. For near 40 years, aviation pioneer Reeve Aleutian Air operated Electra-combi aircraft over the 2,000 mile island chain from Anchorage, to Kodiak, Sand Point, Cold Bay, Dutch Harbor (Unalaska), Adak , and Shemya AFB. Reeve cease operation in 2000. Nowadays, the lone remaining 1950 era aviation pioneer is Everts, still flying fuel drums in sixty year old WWII DC6 aircraft to outlying villages.
Although, passenger air operation to remote Alaskan villages carries more than twice the average yield of an operation in the continental US, demand is simply not there. As a result, air taxi operators, operate maybe once or twice weekly over thin air routes in ten seats or less aircraft.
Have we not seen this before? Where the tax payers money was flagrantly misused ?
Case and point: MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, located along the Indiana border in eastern Missouri. In a segment “Fleecing of America”, NBC Nightly News by Tom Brokaw called the airport a “Gateway to Nowhere” costing taxpayers $313 million. It is a superb facility,10,000 ft runways with complete airport administration, tower, terminal, parking facilities. However, the airport does NOT have a single airline tenant with regular scheduled flights.
Take a look at the new proposed Akutan, AK airport? The small 200 native American village already has a small airport, located three miles inland of the coastline village. However, the Alaska DOT airport description has the new airport being constructed on Akun, an island located six miles east of Akutan and across the Bering sea.
Why building another airport? And that across the sea? In addition, the city of Unalaska is situated a mere 50 miles West of Akutan village, reachable by snow mobile in winter time within 2 hours. It is at least a city, and from here taxi operator Penn-air provides air services to Akutan, albeit the short hop charges customers $250. Weather along the Aleutian island chain is a constant ice fog, thus, operating in such condition requires aircraft equipped with de-icing boots. Most older air taxi aircraft do not have de-icing boots, and with icing in the air, remain grounded.
How much demand will possible arise from a small 200 member village? And how will they get across the sea to the new airport? especially in winter? Further, an airport with a 5,100 asphalt runway, no tower, no perimeter , no terminal costing the US taxpayer $70 million?
Did the President Obama not promise putting an end to wasteful spending?
US airports are governed under FAR Part 139 , and with it come requirements such as having approved airport operations manual, airport fire fighting equipment, lighting, emergency equipment and more. Operators flying into such airport themselves are categorized under part 121 or more appropriate in an Alaska operation under FAR 135.. Who will maintain such an outlying remote airport? Who will bear the yearly costs?