If Jimmy McMillan had been a resident of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, he might have declared the airfares are too damned high!. Politicians in Guam and Saipan have figured out that you never lose by taking on the cost of air travel. And, they complain, that “[a] roundtrip ticket from Saipan to Guam can cost up to $580 on United Airlines. That’s more expensive than some tickets from the Marianas to destinations in Asia.”
The distance between the two U.S. territory primary airports is 129 miles.
And I guess it’s true that the roundtrip can cost $580. But flights are also regularly for sale for $169 each way.
There are two solutions to high airfare being proposed. First, lawmakers from Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands have discussed seeking an exemption for the Mariana Islands “from federal cabotage laws, allowing foreign airlines to provide low-cost travel in the Marianas.” That is reasonable,
- While United Airlines has a legacy hub in Guam, from the old Continental Micronesia days, United is the only U.S. airline serving the capital of the Northern Marianas. (In addition to daily Guam service from Saipan, they offer 3 weekly Tokyo-Narita flights.)
- There’s no service even to Honolulu, and no competition amongst U.S. airlines in this U.S. territory.
- Star Marianas flies within the Marianas. STAR stands for Saipan, Tinian & Aguigan and Rota and operate 5 and 8 passenger Pipers.
- United would, of course, be expected to oppose competition on the Saipan – Guam route.
Additionally, the lieutenant governor of Guam is asking United Airlines to “look into a Domestic Air Service program that could lower airfare.”
They can look, of course. However while the Senate’s FAA reauthorization bill triples Essential Air Service funds but that doesn’t make Guam – Saipan an eligible route. And existing well-served routes are going to have a difficult time obtaining subsidies in any case. It’s a hard argument to make that air passengers have a right to tax money from those that do not fly.
Part of the problem started out there when Delta pulled out of the Pacific islands around the same time it launched its relationship with CCP-owned China Eastern. The US government should subsidize US airlines flying to and from US territories. It’s in the national interest for US-flagged airlines to have daily service to/from American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands plus Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Micronesia.
Cheap. Seattle Victoria is 96 miles and regularly more expensive than that.
United hardly has a “monoply”. Any US airline is free to compete with it if it chooses.
The cost of providing this service is astronomical.
Competition died when all the consolidation was allowed.
Rural California has the same issue with united flights. Acv airport specifically. Acv to sfo, 250miles, can cost over $600! Highway robbery!
That was about how much I had to pay for a last minute DFW-IAH 240 miles coach flight last week.
UA also has the added expense of flying its own flight mechanic onboard the “Island Hopper” route because there are not qualified ground crews at some of the airports. At each stop the mechanic has to do all the safety inspections and repairs that a ground crew would normally perform before the flight can take off. The planes even have to carry onboard a supply of typical repair components and parts in case the mechanic has to repair or replace something, such as landing gear or a tire.. We had the honor of seating next to the mechanic when we took the Island Hopper from Honolulu to Guam a few years ago. I’m not justifying the high price of a flight segment on a particular day, but there are expenses that you need to consider as compared to a more typical itinerary.
I’m not going to weigh in on the cost issue but citing the lack of Saipan-Honolulu service as a thing is a total straw man argument. If there was market demand to support such a route Continental Micronesia would have flown it. It never did and Continental Micronesia was much more attuned to how things needed to be run out there than United has been, particularly under Kirby who cut YAP-ROR service.
The reality was, and will continue to be (for as long as United doesn’t offer direct continental US service to Guam anyways) that to get to the US means going from Guam to HNL. That’s what you do if you’re on Saipan, Palau, Chuuk, or Yap. It used to be the case for the Philippines too but that changed when United started direct SFO-MNL service because there was the demand for it. There just isn’t enough demand from anywhere else.
The fare chart shows that lower fares are available. Walkup fares are always higher.
Nick
Delta withdrew from GUM and SPN as part of its move to Haneda which meant a complete cessation of flights at Narita.
It could not serve the Marianas from HND; UA just gained the right to add ONE FLIGHT from HND to GUM
Southwest has a huge presence in Hawaii now and could easily operate HNL-GUM with a MAX.
Bout damn time!
LOL, it’s called supply and demand. Of course the flight will be higher when more are wanting to fly. I say UNITED pulls out and then show these Politicians just how much airfare CAN be when they is ZERO competition. Either that or fund and start a 3rd airline. Good Luck!
Kirby thought his DEI push would make him immune to this kind of scrutiny.
As one who lives on Guam. We used to go to Saipan 2-3 times a year for a vacation but it’s just too expensive now. I haven’t been in years. We don’t have too much of a choice you want to go to the mainland you pay Unites prices.
Typical politicians. If they can do it for less and make a profit they should get all of the wealthy casino owners in Saipan that they get their bribes from to start an airline.
Federal subsidies aren’t intended to be used to pay for overstaffed Ports Authorities. Ever since the CNMI government allowed the Port Authority to cancel a longstanding agreement with the airlines and impose its own version for assessing fees, airfares have risen sharply.
All any airline needs in order to restore airfares to a reasonable level is get the monopolistic Port Authority to work with the airlines and only provide services the airlines require.
One airline even approached the DOT some years ago and requested a $1.00 subsidy in order to force the local Ports Authority to stop its overcharging knowing that the fees would be scrutinized to not allow diversion of revenues.
Monopolies can adversely affect costs for air travel but nothing compares to the impact of government monopolies where there is no chance for change from any competition!
@derek that’s an international flight, though. For the most part, you pay the same whether it’s a flight from YYJ to SEA or YYZ to HKG. Airport fees, navcan, and taxes are about C$120 not including GST/HST, so transborder flights are never cheaper than ~C$300. SPN to GUM is a US domestic flight, so fixed fees/taxes are more like US$30.
You should look at DL flights out of the small US cities. GFK to MSP can be 500 r/t, or 300 OW. I am sure the others are just as ridiculous.
Star Marianas Air flies between Guam, Saipan, and Rota. But I guess these politicians don’t like the lack of First Class and VIP lounges on the single prop planes.