Government Announces Subsidies for Rural Airline Service to Expire as Soon as Sunday
The Trump administration has announced that funds from a federal initiative that supports commercial air service to rural airports are set to expire as early as this weekend due to the ongoing government shutdown.
Federal transportation authorities indicated that financial assistance under the Essential Air Service initiative are expected to expire as early as this weekend after the agency moved separate financial resources from the Federal Aviation Administration as an advance.
The department is in the process of alerting airline operators about the funding shortfall and informing communities about potential effects.
The government allocates approximately $350m in annual funding for the program.
In recent months, the White House proposed cutting funding by $308m for the air service program, which has support among Republican lawmakers because it offers connectivity to rural, largely Republican areas.
Throughout the first presidency of the former president, the administration proposed eliminating the Essential Air Service initiative – but Congress chose to boost financial support instead.
This initiative typically supports two round trips each day using 30- to 50-seat aircraft – or more frequent flights with smaller planes. Officials report that under the program, approximately 65 communities in Alaska receive service and 112 communities across the remaining states and Puerto Rico that otherwise might not receive any airline service.
“Every state across the country will be impacted,” the transportation secretary stated during a press conference, observing the program had bipartisan support. “We don't have the funding for that program moving forward.”
