SMA to take up fee subsidy talks with NMI govt

CPA chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds, and SMA president Shaun Christian

Star Marianas Airlines Inc. says it will discuss Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ recent proposal to fully subsidize the airlines’ airport usage fees directly with the governor instead of going through the Commonwealth Ports Authority.

In a letter addressed to CPA chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds, SMA president Shaun Christian said that Star Marianas will undertake discussions about subsidies directly with the Office of the Governor.

“Since the CPA has indicated that it has no discretion in terms of abating the fees and charges and the governor’s offer to provide subsidies is seemingly tied to a request to reduce airfare prices, it seems appropriate that Star Marianas undertake the discussions about subsidies directly with the Office of the Governor. As such, the subsidies and airfare prices should not present an obstacle to the continued cooperation between Star Marianas and the CPA,” he said.

In the letter, Christian also reminds the CPA chair that even though it has already resumed flights on a charter basis, its resumption of scheduled flights is contingent on CPA’s continued show of good faith efforts to resolve their current dispute on fee assessments.

“Since both Star [Marianas] and CPA have only reached agreement on general principles, Star’s agreement is contingent on the CPA continuing to demonstrate good faith efforts to resolve the issues raised by Star Marianas. Star Marianas has already resumed its on-demand and air taxi operations. Star Marianas is also diligently moving forward, largely based on CPA’s recent good faith gestures and assurances, to request permission from the DOT to restore commuter services to the CNMI,” he said.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, Star Marianas Air returned to operations last week, providing organized charters between all the islands.

In a short statement from Christian, he explained that the state of emergency Torres issued late last Wednesday evening left Star Marianas under the impression that all CPA imposed fees have been suspended. This was their main condition to CPA for them to resume interisland travel.

From here, Christian stated, they are just waiting for a go signal from the U.S. Department of Transportation to allow them to resume regular flight service.

For their part, King-Hinds reached out to the DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg to ask the department to make federal subsidy available to the CNMI through various programs offered by the DOT, including the Essential Air Service Program, the Alternative Essential Air Service Program, and the Small Community Air Service Development Program.

King-Hinds said the hope is that by being designated as an EAS-eligible community, the CNMI will be able to establish affordable and reliable interisland air travel through subsidizing commuter and certificated air carriers to serve the Rota and Tinian airports.