Government Announces Funding for Air Service to Rural Areas to End as Soon as Sunday
The Trump administration has announced that funds from a federal initiative that subsidizes airline routes to remote airfields are set to expire as soon as Sunday due to the ongoing government shutdown.
Federal transportation authorities stated that financial assistance under the Essential Air Service initiative are likely to end as early as this weekend after the department transferred unrelated funding from the Federal Aviation Administration as an temporary measure.
Transportation officials is currently notifying carriers about the financial gap and informing communities about potential effects.
Federal authorities provides approximately $350m in annual funding for the program.
In recent months, the White House suggested reducing financial support by $308 million for the Essential Air Service, which has support among GOP legislators because it offers connectivity to predominantly Republican rural regions.
Throughout the initial term of Donald Trump, the White House suggested terminating the Essential Air Service program – but lawmakers opted to increase funding instead.
The program typically supports two return flights each day using medium-sized planes – or additional frequencies with smaller aircraft. Officials report that under the program, approximately 65 communities in Alaska receive service and 112 communities across the other 49 states and the territory that otherwise might not receive any commercial air connectivity.
“Every state across the country will be impacted,” the transportation secretary commented during a press conference, observing the service had bipartisan support. “We don't have the money for that initiative moving forward.”
