HB 167-HAROLD ESMAILKA AIRPORT AT RUBY  1:07:59 PM CO-CHAIR CARRICK announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 167, "An Act renaming Ruby Airport as Harold Esmailka Airport; and providing for an effective date." 1:08:29 PM PAUL LABOLLE, Staff, Representative Neal Foster, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Foster, prime sponsor, presented HB 167. He explained that HB 167 would rename the airport in Ruby to the "Harold Esmailka Airport." He stated that Mr. Esmailka was a pioneer in Alaska aviation, especially in the Interior, where he was a [bush pilot], operating two different air service companies. He stated that Mr. Esmailka provided many services, including medivac flights, cargo services, and passenger services. 1:10:10 PM KATIE KANGAS, Mayor, City of Ruby, provided invited testimony on HB 167. She shared Harold Esmailka's history, stating that he had been a pilot for two-thirds of his life. She said that when he became a pilot, the airport in Ruby had a single landing strip. As aviation grew in the Yukon River villages, she said that Mr. Esmailka was instrumental in air service modernization. She shared that he had helped many people in the villages he served, as over 60 letters have been submitted in support of renaming the airport. She stated that without his services, air service in the villages has changed, and she mentioned the expense of being medevacked. She stated that he handled his businesses with "humility, kindness, and generosity." She asked the committee to support the proposed legislation. 1:12:44 PM CYNTHIA ERICKSON, representing self, provided invited testimony on HB 167. She shared that Harold Esmailka was her father, and she provided anecdotes about his life. This included stories of flying in snowstorms, delivering packages to anticipating villagers, and having eight babies delivered on flights he piloted. She related that he had said, "One lady liked it so much, that she did it twice." She expressed support not only from herself, but from all the young men and women he mentored along the way. She expressed pride that her father had influenced the many Alaska Native pilots who exist today. She stated that he was born on an island and had an eighth-grade education, and English was his second language. She added that he worked "like a dog" and never gave up. She concluded that he became successful in aviation and business in "a white-man's world." On behalf of her family, she thanked the sponsors of the proposed legislation. 1:17:07 PM The committee took a brief at-ease. 1:17:55 PM CO-CHAIR CARRICK opened public testimony on HB 167. After ascertaining that there was no one who wished to testify, she closed public testimony. 1:18:30 PM The committee took an at-ease from 1:18 p.m. to 1:20 p.m. 1:20:43 PM REPRESENTATIVE TILTON commented that her husband was a pilot, flying in remote Alaska. She noted that a woman gave birth on one of his flights, and from the story he told, she expressed the belief that any individual who had had eight babies born while flying a plane "is beyond deserving" of this privilege. 1:21:25 PM CO-CHAIR EISCHEID moved to report HB 167 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 167 was reported out of the House Transportation Standing Committee.