A major lifeline for rural communities, federal air travel funds, will expire Sunday if the shutdown continues
WASHINGTON — Federal funding for rural air travel will run out Sunday if the government shutdown continues, threatening to isolate remote communities across the country.
Essential Air Service (EAS), established in 1978, provides money to airlines to operate out of rural airports on routes that would otherwise be unprofitable. The program is a lifeline for remote communities because it connects them to cities with larger airports, ensuring access to medical treatment, employment opportunities and trade goods that would otherwise be a long journey away.
“We ran out of money this Sunday. So there are a lot of small communities across the country that will now not have the resources to make sure they have air service in their community,” Transport Minister Sean Duffy said at a news conference on Monday. “Every state across the country will be impacted by the inability to provide support for airlines to serve these communities.”
EAS awards funds to regional air carriers in 177 communities in all 50 statesas well as Puerto Rico, according to the Department of Transportation. The Regional Airlines Association, an advocacy group for regional airlines that receive EAS funds, said that “commercial air service at EAS airports had an economic impact of $2.3 billion and supported more than 17,000 American jobs” before the pandemic.
“This program is an essential economic lifeline for more than 500 rural communities who are often the hardest hit when there is a malfunction in the national airspace system,” the association said in a statement. “[We] Continue to urge Congress to meet and reopen the government for the benefit of the American people. The current government shutdown adds pressure to the air transport system, which is already suffering from delays, disruptions and cancellations.
As the shutdown continues with no end in sight, the FAA is already facing staffing shortages and upticks in sick calls as air traffic controllers work without pay. NBC News reported on Monday that air traffic controllers were not expected to be at Hollywood Burbank Airport in the Los Angeles area for hours, and that major airports in New Jersey and Denver also faced staffing issues.
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Congress appropriated Nearly $500 million To EAS in 2024; The spending is typically bipartisan, serving rural communities in states across the country. However, earlier this year, President Donald Trump looked to cut the program’s budget by 20%. $308 million In its estimated budget. He had recommended Judiciary The entire program was in the budget plan during his first term.
Federal funding is especially important for Alaska, where the state’s hundreds of islands and vast expanses of tundra make air travel essential. According to an October 2024 Department of Transportation report, Alaska received more than $41 million in EAS subsidies. Duffy told reporters that the “number one user” of rural airspace is Alaska, and that the state “will be impacted” if funding runs out.
“This is almost astounding, when you think about the implications for these communities, because there is no road to any of these places,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told NBC News on Monday. “This is a lot of pressure right now.”
Murkowski said Alaska Airlines would maintain service at a few airports regardless of EAS funding but was concerned about smaller carriers. She added that she was trying to contact Duffy. Alaska Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, Murkowski’s Alaska Senate colleague, Republican Dan Sullivan, said he is already in talks with the transportation secretary about the issue.
“We’re working to make its impact as small as possible. These are EAS subsidies, but that only applies to the damned Schumer shutdown,” Sullivan said, referring to the GOP’s nickname for the shutdown, which Republicans say was caused by Democrats. “But right now, what I’m trying to do is work with the Secretary of Transportation, with whom I’ve been exchanging text messages and voice messages, to try to limit this kind of damage.”
Ryan Huotari, director of Sidney Richland Airport in Sidney, Montana, said the airport and its community depend on EAS funding.
“If the East Asian system didn’t exist, I don’t think it would be able to operate,” Hootari said of the airport. “Our winters here are 20 degrees below zero, which is very treacherous weather. The drive from here to Billings is very scary. I’d rather be in a plane than in a car.”
Sydney is just an hour’s flight from Billings, Montana’s largest city, but takes about four hours by car each way. Huotari says the airport is crucial for people who can’t make the eight-hour round trip, such as seniors who need medical care in Billings, or oil workers who commute between the two areas.
Hotari, who ran the airport during the last closure in 2018, said he’s used to EAS being on the verge of a budget cut, but with no solution in Congress in sight, he’s worried this time.
“My biggest concern is getting people paid. There are a lot of federal grants I’ve got right now,” he said. “There’s a lot of money out there, like millions.”