An Alaska municipal borough has assumed control of the local facilities of an airline that filed for bankruptcy protection because of the negative economic impact of the coronavirus.
North Slope Borough Mayor Harry Brower signed an emergency order Sunday saying his administration was “commandeering assets” of RavnAir Group.
The municipal government in Barrow temporarily seized control of the facilities in Utqiagvik and Deadhorse to ensure residents receive “food, medical supplies and medical transport,” the order said.
RavnAir Group cited the virus when it announced Sunday it would halt operations, temporarily lay off all remaining staff and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The decision affects the company’s three airlines: RavnAir Alaska, PenAir and RavnAir Connect.
It is Alaska’s largest regional carrier and said it lost 90% of passenger revenue because of the pandemic.
For most people, new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
The order will be lifted when an agreement is reached for shared use of the facilities, Bower said, noting the borough does not want to profit or bankrupt the company.
“We’ve tried to work with Ravn whose news has gone from limiting services, to cutting services, to pulling out of the Slope, to as of last night filing for Bankruptcy and locking the Deadhorse and Utqiagvik facilities,” Brower wrote in an email Monday.
“Residents learned of most of this on a note posted to terminal doors,” he wrote.
The move allows other airlines to use the facilities to serve the community, he said.
RavnAir did not did not have an immediate comment on the order.
RavnAir handled Utqiagvik and Deadhorse ground operations, including sorting mail and cargo and operating hangars. The company’s bankruptcy announcement came with a mandate to close facilities for the delivery of mail and freight.
RavnAir scaled back operations late last week, raising a question of how communities would receive mail and freight.
The U.S. Postal Service is using “a patchwork of different carriers” to serve the communities, spokesman David Rupert said.
Wright Air took over mail delivery for the North Slope Borough and made commitments to hire a small group of RavnAir employees in Utqiagvik to assist ground operations, co-owner Matt Atkinson said.
