00HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 20                                                                                      
01 Relating to competitive air service for rural Alaska and Southeast Alaska.                                              
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03  WHEREAS jet airline service is essential to the conduct of commerce, tourism, and                                      
04 government in rural Alaska and Southeast Alaska; and                                                                    
05  WHEREAS convenient and affordable access to the Alaska state capital in Juneau is                                      
06 in the public interest; and                                                                                             
07  WHEREAS most of rural Alaska and Southeast Alaska is a monopoly market for one                                         
08 air carrier; and                                                                                                        
09  WHEREAS ticket prices to rural Alaska and Southeast Alaska communities are among                                       
10 the highest priced tickets, per mile, in the State of Alaska and exceed ticket prices for route                         
11 segments of similar length in the Lower 48, making rural Alaska and Southeast Alaska ticket                             
12 prices among the most expensive in North America; and                                                                   
13  WHEREAS excessive ticket prices in rural Alaska and Southeast Alaska exploit                                           
14 Alaskans and inhibit commerce, tourism, and the public process throughout the state; and                                

01  WHEREAS Governor Tony Knowles has offered a $1,000,000 incentive package for                                           
02 international air carriers to initiate service between Japan and Anchorage;                                             
03  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges Governor Tony Knowles                                           
04 to provide at least an equal incentive to the airline industry to initiate competitive, affordably                      
05 priced air service between rural Alaska and Southeast Alaska and their feeder hubs, especially                          
06 Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Seattle; and be it                                                                            
07  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State legislature urges the Governor to                                               
08 explore the feasibility of low-cost, charter airline service to and from Southeast Alaska for                           
09 travel by state employees and the public.                                                                               
10  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to John F. Kelly, Chief Executive Officer,                                     
11 Alaska Air Group, Inc.; Ronald W. Allen, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief                                    
12 Executive Officer, Delta Air Lines, Inc.; Lee M. Hydeman, Chief Executive Officer, Reno Air,                            
13 Inc.; Herbert D. Kelleher, Chief Executive Officer, Southwest Airlines Co.; and Robert A.                               
14 Peiser, Chief Executive Officer, Western Pacific Airlines, Inc.