There was legislation that was not quite seen to its conclusion in the 28th Guam Legislature, which ended this past year. For all of those senators and government officials reading this, I wish to ask you to complete some of the important legislation that was begun earlier.
Many of us here on Guam are very interested in seeing the Airlines Accountability Act brought into effect. Such legislation will hold all airlines, whether they be foreign or domestic, cargo or passenger, to give full disclosure of their annual earnings, profits, expenditures, and the like.
Due to our remote location, Guam is extremely sensitive to market changes that impact transportation costs. The price for a ticket to the States or for shipping an item off island by air freight is already high—most likely artificially high. Indeed, fuel costs have increased over the years, and our island economy has been no stranger to inflation. But the price increases in airline tickets are disproportionately high.
We, the hard working people of Guam, are being taken advantage of by certain segments of the aviation industry. We are being overcharged and have little choice but to pay swollen airfares or never leave island. By legally compelling airlines to divulge their earnings and expenditures, airlines are far less apt to artificially inflate their prices by citing false or exaggerated figures.
We need to hold airlines just as any other business to high ethical standards. We have laws that prohibit vendors from cranking up prices during times surrounding a natural disaster. We even have a new law in effect that will require senators and various government officials to receive training in ethics. Why should the aviation industry be exempt?
It is perfectly reasonable to ask that any company or service industry provide verifiable evidence and explanation for why they charge what they do. It is already terribly expensive to live on Guam; we certainly don’t want it to be anymore expensive than it absolutely has to be.
I hope that Senator Lujan and others in the current legislature will pursue this legislation to its conclusion so that we, as consumers, can be assured that we are being fairly charged for services rendered by the airlines.

KELLY MARTINEZ
SSGT U.S. Army-retired
Yigo, Guam