OVER the last year I have seen many articles in the papers regarding the open skies and cabotage issues and must say that I’m frustrated. I’m frustrated and confused as to why anyone would be against opening our skies to more airlines, more passengers, more services, and more money. Yes, I understand that American airlines can already legally come here to vie with Continental and Northwest but have opted not to due to lack of financial impetus. But foreign airlines aren’t permitted to fly from Guam to Hawaii because that would violate the cabotage laws.
What is the big deal in permitting foreign airlines to vie with our own airlines on just this one route? It’s not like we are asking for across the board changes that would put Continental or Northwest out of business here in the Pacific. By giving foreign airlines access to the Guam-Hawaii leg, we likely would see a remarkable decline in airfares offered by American carriers who operate that route. Currently airfares from Guam to the Mainland run up to $2,000. By allowing foreign carriers to fly this route it is likely that airfares would sink below $1,000 — that is considerable savings to the people who live here and to those who travel here!
Not only would we see increased savings on air line tickets if we have more airlines coming to Guam and flying from here to Hawaii, but we will also see new jobs created. New maintenance personnel ticket agents, managers, ground crew, baggage handlers, etc. would be necessary to be placed on staff for each new airline here. One has to admit that in light of our less than robust economy, even a few hundred extra jobs would be a welcome addition. Yet for all of this, some people still believe it is a bad idea to bring more competition to Guam. I am forced to think that such people have ulterior motives and are either averse to any legislation that Sen. Jesse Lujan champions or are led by motives of self-interest or corporate-interest rather than ensuring the interests of the people of Guam and our island’s well-being.

Kurtis Van Johnson
Yigo, Guam