Airlines end service to some smaller communities

Some smaller communities are losing scheduled air service because of the rising cost of jet fuel and the decline in number of passengers, prompting some in Congress to push for more money for the 30-year-old Essential Air Service Program, which was created to ensure that communities in rural and remote areas would be linked to the nation’s air system even as the industry was being largely deregulated.

"The government provides subsidies of about $100 million a year to the airlines, resulting in service to 102 communities," Micheline Maynard writes in The New York Times. "But the subsidies have not risen fast enough to cover the jump in jet fuel costs, and passengers have resisted paying higher prices for plane tickets, prompting carriers to pull out of a number of cities," including Bluefield, W.Va., Lancaster, Pa., Boulder City, Nev., and three cities each in Arizona and Washington. Here's the list. "The service cuts are far from over, as jet fuel prices rise, airlines shut down and companies consider mergers." (Read more)