
Call For CNMI Leaders To Fight Back On High Airfares
Article – RNZ
The former representative shared his frustration after attempting to book a four-day roundtrip ticket from Guam to Saipan. Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent
Former Northern Mariana Islands lawmaker Edwin K. Propst taken to social media to urge leaders to 'go to war' with United Airlines over what he claims are exorbitant airfares between Saipan and Guam.
The call to action comes amid renewed efforts to reinstate the Essential Air Service program in the CNMI and push for a cabotage exemption.
'Attention all leaders of the Marianas in the public and private sector, it is time to go to war with this airline,' Propst wrote.
The former representative, who now works at the CNMI broadband policy and development office, shared his frustration after attempting to book a four-day roundtrip ticket from Guam to Saipan in June – to find the lowest available fare was US$767.
'For a 25-minute flight?!
'They have just made record-breaking profits and instead of rewarding their customers, they increase their prices.'
Propst called the airfares 'devastating' to the local economy and tourism.
The CNMI is currently seeking exemption from federal cabotage restrictions, which bar foreign airlines from operating domestic routes between US territories such as Guam and the CNMI.
Governor Arnold Palacios mentioned this effort during his State of the Commonwealth Address, saying he had 'actively advocated for potential cabotage waiver [and] essential air services' in recent talks with federal agencies and congressional leaders.
Palacios emphasized the importance of improved regional connectivity to support the CNMI's tourism-dependent economy.
Senate public utilities, transportation and communications committee chair, Senator Jude Hofschneider called Propst's complaints a 'sad reality of economic times,' adding that United's pricing is 'likely a business decision by the air carrier'.
Still, Hofschneider said the moment calls for greater support of Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds' bill introduced in April to requalify CNMI airports for the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. If passed, the measure would allow federal subsidies to fund daily round-trip flights even if commercial carriers withdraw service.
A quote from CWM Travel International showed a Saipan-Guam roundtrip departing 8 June 8 and returning 12 June costing $420 – significantly cheaper than Propst's booking but still high for an inter-island flight.
The EAS program, created in 1978 and stripped from CNMI eligibility in 2012, was intended to preserve air access for small US communities.
King-Hinds' bill seeks to restore eligibility to Saipan, Tinian, and Rota by placing CNMI alongside Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico in exemption status.
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'On the consultation point, Māori clearly weren't adequately engaged with before the RSB was created and introduced into the House,' Geddis said. 'The Waitangi Tribunal's report on the RSB is unequivocal on this issue.' Geddis said in contrast, that LDAC guidelines contain an entire chapter of guidance on how Te Tiriti should be considered. 'That very silence creates uncertainty as to how the principles in the RSB are meant to interact with these principles of the Treaty.' Under principles of responsible legislation outlined at the start the bill, there is a statement that 'every person is equal before the law,' which some have said dismisses Māori concerns. Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer at the bill's first reading last month attacked the bill. 'If you look through the whole 37 pages, which I encourage that you don't, the silence on the impact for Te Tiriti is on purpose. 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'Applied to the real world, this means that anything the government does that decreases corporate profits opens it up to possible legal action,' bill opponent Ryan Ward wrote for E-Tangata. What do supporters say? Writing for the New Zealand Institute, Bryce Wilkinson said criticisms of the bill as 'a 'dangerous ideological' drive towards limited government are arrant nonsense'. 'The bill itself is a mild transparency measure,' Wilkinson has also written. 'The Regulatory Standards Bill's modest aim is to make wilful lack of disclosure harder.' 'At the end of the day we are putting critical principles into lawmaking,' Seymour told Newsroom. 'We know bureaucrats don't like this law. For New Zealanders that's a good thing.' So how can we have our say on it? Now is the time to do it. Public submissions to the Finance and Expenditure Committee will be accepted until 1pm Monday 23 June. Submissions are publicly released and will be published to the Parliament website. What happens after that? Does the bill look likely to pass? Here's what happens next. The select committee is due to report back on submissions by 22 November, although Seymour has asked that to be moved up to 23 September, Newsroom reported. After the select committee, the bill would proceed to a second reading, then a committee of the Whole House, and a final vote in the third reading, which would need support from more than half of Parliament to pass. If the bill passes, it would likely come into effect on 1 January 2026. While the Treaty Principles Bill, also championed by ACT, failed in Parliament in April and was voted down by every party but ACT, Edgeler said the path for this one was less shaky. 'This one, of course, is more likely to pass because the promise in the coalition agreement is to pass it,' Edgeler said. That agreement requires National to support the bill all the way through, which is different to the agreement's clause on the Treaty Principles Bill. By extension it also requires New Zealand First to support it all the way through because their agreement requires them to support the agreement with ACT. 'Whether it passes in the exact form, who knows, whether New Zealand First continues its support or insists on changes which might drastically alter it, or even water it down further, is a different question.' NZ First leader Winston Peters has described the bill as a 'work in progress' and Geddis said: 'It is possible that the changes NZ First want so alter the RSB's content that it ceases to deliver what ACT wants it to, creating a stand-off between the two coalition partners.' Geddis agreed the coalition agreement makes it difficult for National to not support the bill. 'Given that these agreements are treated as being something close to holy writ, and given how much political capital David Seymour is investing in this bill, it seems unlikely that National will feel able to withhold its support. That then leaves NZ First as being, in effect, the decider.' One last question – what were those regulatory principles again? From the bill itself, in summary, the principles are: the importance of maintaining consistency with various aspects of the rule of law; and legislation should not unduly diminish a person's liberty, personal security, freedom of choice or action, or various property rights, except as is necessary to provide for, or protect, any such liberty, freedom, or right of another person; and legislation should not take or impair property without the owner's consent unless certain requirements are met. The requirements include that there is a good justification for the taking or impairment and fair compensation is provided to the owner; and the importance of maintaining consistency with section 22 of the Constitution Act 1986. Section 22 of that Act provides that it is not lawful for the Crown, except by or under an Act, to levy a tax, borrow money, or spend public money; and legislation should impose a fee for goods or services only if the amount of the fee bears a proper relation to the cost of providing the good or service; and legislation should impose a levy to fund an objective or a function only if the levy is reasonable in relation to: legislation should preserve the courts' constitutional role of ascertaining the meaning of legislation; and legislation should make rights and liberties, or obligations, dependent on administrative power only if the power is sufficiently defined and subject to appropriate review; and the importance of consulting, to the extent that is reasonably practicable, the persons that the responsible agency considers will be directly and materially affected by the legislation; and the importance of carefully evaluating various matters as part of a good law-making process. These include: who is likely to benefit and who is likely to suffer a detriment; and legislation should be expected to produce benefits that exceed the costs of the legislation to the public or persons; and legislation should be the most effective, efficient, and proportionate response to the issue concerned that is available.