The Essential Air Service program, which subsidizes air service to rural communities will be cut, but not as much as many of them feared, under a congressional agreement this week on operating authority for the Federal Aviation Administration over the next four years. The program will be cut to $190 million a year, from $200 million, The Associated Press reports
Communities that are within 175 miles of a hub airport and average fewer than 10 passengers a day would lose their federal subsidy. About a dozen communities would lose service if those rules were applied today. No new communities will be allowed to enter the program. This compromise comes months after House Republicans attempted to cut 13 cities from air subsidies and make it difficult for airline workers to unionize. But the agreement should "pave the way" for continued investment in rural airports, Paul Nyden of The Charleston Gazette reports.
Communities that are within 175 miles of a hub airport and average fewer than 10 passengers a day would lose their federal subsidy. About a dozen communities would lose service if those rules were applied today. No new communities will be allowed to enter the program. This compromise comes months after House Republicans attempted to cut 13 cities from air subsidies and make it difficult for airline workers to unionize. But the agreement should "pave the way" for continued investment in rural airports, Paul Nyden of The Charleston Gazette reports.
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