Northwest asked anew to bring new airline to Rota

The Babauta administration is asking Northwest Airlines to bring in a new airline to service Rota amid the current shortage of inter-island flight seats caused by the recent pullout of Pacific Island Aviation.

Governor’s press secretary Peter A. Callaghan said yesterday that Gov. Juan N. Babauta has met with Northwest Airline executives from Guam to convince them to invest again in the inter-island market.

PIA was using Northwest Air Link aircraft for its Saipan-Rota-Guam flights.

Callaghan said Babauta met on island with Northwest manager for Guam and Saipan Richard Parsons and managing director for Asia operations James Muller over a week ago.

“The governor met with them to see the possibility of finding another airline to replace PIA. The governor expressed his concern over the departure of Northwest Air Link, which was PIA, and asked if there’s any possibility that one of the stateside commuter airlines fly under the Northwest family out here,” said Callaghan.

He said the airline executives commented that the idea “sounds promising.”

“They said they would look into that possibility,” said Callaghan.

PIA shut down its operations in the Marianas effective early this month, citing stiff competition in the market and high operation costs. This developed after Continental Airlines brought in Cape Air to serve the Saipan-Rota-Guam routes. Another airline serving the same route is Freedom Air.

Local commuters, however, complained of severe shortage of seats on inter-island flights, shortly after PIA’s pullout.

The Rota legislative delegation led by Rota Sen. Diego Songao earlier wrote the two remaining carriers to increase their flights to save Rota’s economy from any potential adverse impact.

Songao said the decreased flight service has caused people to cancel their meetings and appointments on neighboring islands for lack of flight seats.

He said the situation also affects several independent visitors who are traveling without the aid of tour agencies, as well as medical referral patients who need urgent care off-island.

“This could be potentially devastating to Rota as we try to increase our share of the tourist market,” the senator had said.

He also called on Cape Air to eliminate any penalties for late booking charges, which are assessed against passengers who purchase tickets less than one week before the travel date.