Government Announces Subsidies for Rural Airline Service to Expire as Early as This Weekend
Federal officials has announced that financial support from a federal initiative that subsidizes commercial air service to rural airports are scheduled to end as soon as Sunday due to the current federal funding lapse.
The US transportation department stated that subsidies under the Essential Air Service program are expected to expire as soon as Sunday after the department transferred unrelated funding from the Federal Aviation Administration as an temporary measure.
Transportation officials is in the process of alerting carriers about the financial gap and alerting local areas about possible impacts.
Federal authorities allocates approximately $350m in yearly financial support for the program.
In recent months, the administration suggested reducing funding by $308m for the air service program, which has support among GOP legislators because it offers connectivity to rural, largely Republican areas.
During the first presidency of the former president, the administration suggested terminating the Essential Air Service program – but lawmakers opted to increase funding instead.
The program typically supports two round trips daily using medium-sized planes – or more frequent flights with smaller aircraft. According to the department that under the program, approximately 65 areas in the northern state have air access and 112 locations across the other 49 states and Puerto Rico that otherwise might not receive any airline service.
“Every state across the country will be impacted,” the transportation secretary commented during a media briefing, noting the program had support from both parties. “We lack the money for that initiative moving forward.”
