It's not good for Fairbanks, where the borough government estimates that Fairbanks International Airport would lose a few hundred thousand dollars in landing fees since Alaska Airlines--one of three bypass mail carriers on the Barrow run, along with Northern Air Cargo and Everts Air--would likely reduce the number of Barrow-bound flights out of Fairbanks if the bypass change is approved. The mail service essentially subsidizes those flights, at a rate of about $3,200 per flight, according to a study commissioned by the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
That same study lists other ways Fairbanks would suffer. Fewer flights into Fairbanks means fewer North Slope residents visiting this community, which then means lost revenue to businesses that those visitors shop at. The Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates visitation will decline since there are people who come to Fairbanks from Outside as a staging ground for a trip to Barrow. And then there are the societal negatives that come from pushing communities further apart, as the Postal Service plan would do, rather than bringing them closer together.
And, not to ignore how our friends in Barrow would be harmed, there's the likelihood that goods shipped via the revised bypass mail system would sustain damage more often because they will have to be transferred from truck to aircraft in Deadhorse and because traveling on the rough Dalton Highway isn't the same as being in an aircraft and slicing through the mostly smooth air currents. The borough's study also says it will take longer to get those goods to Barrow because of the inclusion of the Deadhorse transfer.
It's not financially sound, either, the borough's study says. The Postal Service appears to have overestimated the potential savings and underestimated the cost by using faulty figures for the number of truck trips and the cost of those trips. The bottom line is that the Postal Service estimates it will cost $365,000 annually to truck bypass mail from Fairbanks to Deadhorse. Compare that to the $1.1 million to $1.6 million that the borough's study says the change will cost the Postal Service.
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