More than 14 small airports have lost commercial service; rural places face travel costs, job loss and more isolation

Boarding at a small airport (Photo by Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News)

Airlines don't have enough pilots to fly all their planes, so, in response, service to rural areas has been facing cuts at an "almost unheard of pace," reports Liz Crampton of Politico. "Since January 2020, at least 324 airports have seen service cuts, losing an average of 30 percent of their flights, according to the Regional Airline Association. More than 14 airports have lost commercial service completely, including places such as Mobile, Ala.; Ogden, Utah; Stowe, Vt., and Williamsport, Pa. . . . Drew Jacoby Lemos, vice president of government affairs for the RAA, said that his membership has more than 400 planes grounded because airlines can’t find enough pilots to fly them."

Since the pandemic began in early 2020, "National airlines have rapidly pulled out of rural airports. . . . It's fostering a sense of isolation that's frustrated small-town Americans fed up with big business and Washington," Crampton writes. "American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines say they are constrained by a pilot shortage that has forced them to scale back service or stop flying entirely from certain airports. In the face of a financial squeeze, routes from regional airports are often the first to be eliminated. . . . American alone said its lack of pilots has been the equivalent of taking more than 150 regional planes out of service."

Carriers' desertion of Iowa's Dubuque airport is an example of what the loss costs a region. "Now, locals and visitors need to drive approximately 80 miles to Moline or Cedar Rapids, or, to get to bigger destinations, three hours to Chicago, mostly using a two-lane road," Crampton writes. "Losing air service cost the Dubuque airport nearly 200 jobs and reduced its economic output by more than $26 million, according to an economic impact analysis the city paid for comparing data from 2019 to 2022. . . . Repercussions may extend beyond financial losses. Dubuque Mayor Brad Cavanagh believes that nothing else will have a greater impact on politics in the decade ahead than further isolating cities like his." Cavanagh told Crampton, "In rural communities like ours, there's no way we're going to survive long-term without air service. We're going to die a slow, agonizing death."

Crampton reports, "States can try to expand the pool of pilots by expanding flight education programs and recruitment of high school students. But the airline industry believes the most effective solution to resolving the shortage needs to come at the federal level. . . . As Congress gears up for Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, cities grappling with reduced service are lobbying lawmakers to grow the size of a grant program designed to help small communities address air service issues. . . . .There's also an effort to increase student loan caps for accredited pilot training programs to ease education costs."

Meanwhile, airlines have raised pilots' hourly wages. "To attract more people to the profession," Crampton adds. "First-year captains working at the regional carriers under American Airlines will earn $146 an hour and entry-level pilots $90 an hour, up from $78 and $51 an hour, the company announced last year." Across the board, airlines such as Delta Air have increased pilot salaries and negotiated contracts that address work/life balance; those changes could help pilots servicing smaller regions tap into additional benefits.

Air ambulances offer rural residents iffy memberships

Rural residents rely disproportionately on air ambulances to reach distant medical care in emergencies, but many have been hit with huge, unexpected bills since many such services aren't in insurance networks. To combat fears about such bills, ambulance services have been increasingly advertising prepaid subscriptions that promise patients free use of their helicopters in an emergency. 

"Nationwide, though, state insurance leaders, politicians and even one of the nation's largest air ambulance companies have raised concerns about the slickly marketed membership campaigns," Sarah Tribble reports for NPR. "The memberships often don't include every ambulance company in an area, and the choice of which medevac service answers a call is out of a consumer's hands."

Meanwhile, the cost of air ambulance services has soared in recent years. The median price for an air ambulance trip increased from $22,100 in 2012 to $36,400 in 2017—a 65 percent jump. Medicare and Medicaid patients pay lower fees or even nothing for such trips, but those with private insurance often find their plans don't cover the entire cost of the service, leaving them saddled with "balance bills" for the uncovered portion, Tribble reports.

States can't regulate air ambulance rates, routes or services, but several, including North Dakota and Montana, have introduced or passed bills to limit air ambulance memberships or decrease the likelihood that subscribers would get stuck with balance bills, Tribble reports.

The federal government does have the power to regulate air travel, though; Congress formed a committee last year to look into air ambulance bills. Air ambulance lobbyists blamed inadequate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for the high rates and asked that the federal government reimburse them more, Harris Meyer reports for Modern Healthcare.

Study that showed increasing air-ambulance charges may bolster Senate bill that cracks down on surprise medical bills

In 2016, nationwide median charges for air ambulance services, which are used disproportionately in rural areas, were 4.1 to 9.5 times what Medicare paid for the same services, according to a recently published study. The billing disparity is much higher than for physicians or ground ambulance services. "Median charges for air ambulance services compared to Medicare rates soared by 46% to 61% from 2012 to 2016," Harris Meyer reports for Modern Healthcare. "For Medicare patients, the median charge per trip increased from $24,000 to $39,000."

Since many air ambulance providers aren't in insurance networks, patients get stuck with unexpected "balance bills" for thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars for services they believed were in-network. The study may bolster a new Senate bill that would crack down on surprise bills. "Last month, the Senate health committee shocked the air ambulance industry, which is made up heavily of private equity-owned companies, by including a balance-billing ban for air ambulance services in its broader legislation to regulate surprise out-of-network billing," Meyer reports.

Because of a federal law that governs air carriers, courts have blocked states from regulating air ambulances, so experts say only the federal government can address the problem. "Congress last year ordered creation of an advisory committee of stakeholders to examine air ambulance price-transparency measures and consumer protections against excessive charges," Meyer reports.

"The Association of Air Medical Services, the industry's lobbying group, blamed inadequate Medicare and Medicaid payment rates for the out-of-network billing controversy," Meyer reports. "It said air ambulance services are essential for Americans, particularly in rural areas, and that the federal government needs to conduct a study to develop rates that cover actual costs in order to preserve these services."

Texas columnist shows how modern times create a "whenever" Thanksgiving for many

Columnist Mary Jane McKinney of The Canadian Record in Canadian, Texas, brings us a thoughtful exploration of how Thanksgiving is changing in modern times:

The "Whenever" Thanksgiving is catching on. Families are getting together weeks before the official holiday. A recent survey reports that 16 percent of respondents plan a "Whenever" Thanksgiving. Another 13 percent say they will consider a "Whenever" in the future (Source: CivicScience). Thanksgiving is morphing into something new in American culture. Reducing stress, maximizing time off from work and school, and exercising freedom of choice is transforming Thanksgiving. Playing around with the traditional holiday is a response to the following factors:

• Air fares. The airlines hike up fares for the holiday and will not allow the use of most frequent-flyer miles. To save money on travel, families are flying to grandma and grandpa's on a weekend in early November at bargain rates.
• Work schedules. Ever since the long Thanksgiving weekend became a shopping marathon, more and more people have to be on the job that weekend. People who work in retail, restaurants, law enforcement, transportation, and many other industries do not get Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday off. They have been enjoying the "Whenever" Thanksgiving for years.
• Shopping. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday have become traditions. Many stores are open for business on Thanksgiving Day. Some families celebrate the shopping get-together more than the dining get-together aspect of the holiday. Thanksgiving dinner for bargain-hunters is pizza at the food court in the mall.
• Vacation. Four-day weekends are rare. A Thursday holiday is weird to begin with. It was only a matter of time before the four-day weekend out-weighed tradition. The opportunity for a  family vacation at Thanksgiving is tempting families and singles to plan trips in advance and use the four days for a mini-vacation.
• The meal. The turkey dinner is a turn-off. To great-grandma, baking turkey and dressing, making gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, and pies was perfectly normal. The thought of spending a holiday preparing the labor-intensive turkey and trimmings drives many men and women cooks to embrace alternative traditions. Why spend a holiday slaving away in the kitchen? The fast food and take-out dinner generations prefer easy food preparation that doesn't take time--or waste vacation time. Even accomplished cooks are used to tossing a salad and throwing some meat in the crockpot or on the grill.
• Charity work. Volunteering to serve Thanksgiving dinner at a church, soup kitchen or homeless shelter is taking hold as a holiday ritual. Families are sitting down for turkey dinner at a local charity instead of eating at home.

American culture moves fast and is constantly changing. The Thanksgiving tradition is getting together with family and friends for a communal meal. It doesn't matter if the meal is at a homeless shelter, the mall, or three weeks before the holiday. Friends in California have been gathering at a park with old friends and neighbors for a covered dish Thanksgiving picnic for 30 years. Friends in New York watch the Macy's parade, shop at Macy's afterwards, and join friends for Peking duck at a Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood. Other friends take an annual camping trip on the Llano River and eat, campfire style.

There is another factor in play that is driving the change in Thanksgiving traditions: divorce. My nephew, Billy's, parents divorced and remarried. He married a woman whose parents divorced and remarried. Now, Billy's two sons have four sets of grandparents who expect to spend holidays with their grandsons. The stress at holiday time is overwhelming. Last year, Bill and his wife hosted a "Whenever" Thanksgiving for most of the family members involved--those on speaking terms anyway. The "Whenever" was a huge success.

Whenever you are celebrating, here's wishing you happy shopping-volunteering-vacationing-Thanksgiving!

Transportation secretary says rural communities would benefit from privatized air-traffic control

AP photo

Senators on both sides of the aisle have questioned whether President Trump's endorsement of airlines' push to privatize air-traffic control would hurt rural areas.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao says no. She says small communities would actually benefit from privatization, Bart Jansen reports for USA Today. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said during a transportation committee hearing that the proposal raised many concerns in small communities. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) expressed concern that only the largest cities would benefit. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) called the proposal "a tough sell" in states where small airports are concerned.

"Chao said rural communities would benefit from moving air-traffic control from the Federal Aviation Administration to a non-profit corporation because the first cuts in a budget fight concern towers where controllers are hired under contract in communities with few flights," Jansen writes. Chao said, "The contract towers are very important to rural America. I’m very, very concerned about the impact on rural America." Her husband is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Chao said the proposal’s biggest advantage is avoidance of cumbersome federal procurement rules. "The rural areas are most hurt by the status quo," Chao told Jansen. "Access to rural America would actually be enhanced if the air traffic control system were taken out of the bureaucratic government budgeting and procurement processes."

Small airports and rural interests don't like Trump's plan to privatize and modernize air traffic control

A Jet Blue pilot navigates a next-generation simulator with FAA
Administrator Michael Huerta. (2012 AP photo by John Raoux)

"Despite a campaign full of pledges to aid rural areas, President Trump’s first big move on infrastructure – privatizing key functions of the Federal Aviation Administration – is quickly drawing fire from small airports, rural communities and their federal lawmakers," Stuart Leavenworth reports for McClatchy Newspapers.

The plan, announced Monday, is backed by airlines, the traffic controllers' union and former transportation secretaries, "partly because of the agency’s slow track record in modernizing its technology," Lewvenworth reports, but "Opponents fear the plan could hand over government assets and more power to the airline industry, which will have representatives on the new non-profit board. Small airports and the general aviation industry fear they could become an aviation afterthought."

Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas told McClatchy, “Proposals to privatize air-traffic control threaten the reliable transportation options provided by small airports and the general-aviation community for millions of Americans. All but our largest airports nationwide stand to be hurt by this proposal. Privatization eliminates the chance for Congress and the American people to provide oversight, creates uncertainty in the marketplace and is likely to raise costs for consumers.”

Leavenworth writes, "Nearly all interests agree the nation’s air-traffic-control system is safe but antiquated, relying on radar while other nations long ago started using GPS," the global positioning system. "Trump’s claim on Monday that his FAA plan will 'maintain support for rural communities and small airports' was immediately disputed by the Alliance for Aviation Across America, a group that represents small airports and other groups."

The president didn't actually propose anything new, just sent "routine letters to Congress" endorsing "a minimally detailed plan" in Trump's budget" and proposed for several years in Congress, Noah Bierman of the Los Angeles Times reports, but "Trump employed all the trappings traditionally reserved for signing major bills into law." James Hohmann of The Washington Post cites Bierman and writes, "But low-information voters may not be able to tell the difference when they see the B-roll of the ceremony on TV or an image in the paper."

Eliminating Essential Air Service would have a big impact in Michigan, second to Alaska in subsidies

One of the programs that would be eliminated under President Trump's proposed budget is Essential Air Service, "which last year subsidized commercial flights to 173 rural airports at a cost of about $283 million," Melissa Nann Burke reports for The Detroit News. Michigan, which Trump carried in the November election, ranks second behind Alaska in most communities supported by the program. The state would lose federal subsidies that provide service to nine of its most isolated airports. Last year in Michigan subsidies per passenger ranged from $23 to $366.

"Advocates contend that discontinuing the subsidies could harm tourism and business development in northern Michigan, where the nine airports are located, including five in the Upper Peninsula," Burke writes. "The Trump administration says the program wastes taxpayer dollars on mostly empty flights to places that are within driving distance of larger airports. Other critics of the Essential Air Service say fears about cutting off rural communities from the rest of the world are overblown." The end of the program would not mean closure of airports, regional airport directors say, because they have many corporate and general-aviation users.

Congress created the program in the 1970s to ensure air service to small communities would continue. "The program is funded in part by overflight fees—$108 million last year—paid to the federal government by foreign aircraft that fly through U.S. airspace," Burke reports. "The remainder comes from discretionary appropriations by Congress, which set aside $175 million last fiscal year. Lawmakers have since narrowed the program’s scope, but spending has increased more than 132 percent since 2008, adjusting for inflation, in part because of rising fuel costs, according to a March report by the Congressional Research Service."

The service is especially important in states like Alaska, where in some cases there are no roads "to connect people to a larger hub where they can get medical care, prescriptions and groceries, air travel is a part of everyday life," Annie Zak reports for Alaska Dispatch News. The Alaska Department of Transportation said about 82 percent of the state's communities are not connected to the road system. John Binder, deputy state transportation commissioner for aviation, told Zak that a total of 230 Alaska communities are eligible for the program, though not all participate.

Alaska gets about $21 million in federal subsidies from the program, Burke writes. "Without the Essential Air Service program, carriers speculate that ticket prices might go up and service frequency might go down, if regular flight service remains in such remote hamlets at all."

Low consumer demand for drones has industry turning more attention to agriculture market

Getty Images photo by Jean Pierre Muller

Low consumer demand for drones is crashing the industry and forcing manufacturers to turn their focus to businesses such as agriculture, Heather Somerville reports for Reuters. "While many drone-makers overestimated demand from hobbyists, they now see big opportunities selling to businesses under newly relaxed U.S. regulations."

The future of drones could be in agriculture, which already leads the market for commercial drone usage, says Lux Research, a Boston-based firm that concentrates on emerging technologies. Agriculture will generate $350 million in revenues in 2025, helping lead the commercial market for drones to $1.7 billion in 2025.

"Farmers can use unmanned aerial vehicles to check fields for areas of dryness or disease, spray fertilizer and pesticide, watch over livestock, and a number of other purposes," reports Futurism. "Drones are more easily serviceable and significantly cheaper than small piloted planes or satellites; ready-to-use agricultural drone systems, together with sensors and software, range in price from $1,500 to $25,000."

Okla. lawmakers want to eliminate Essential Air Service; state doesn't qualify for subsidies

A pair of Republican lawmakers from Oklahoma have called for an end to the Essential Air Service program, saying it wastes $275 million per year on flights for few passengers, Chris Casteel reports for The Oklahoman. Sen. James Lankford said "It is simply unfair to expect families in 99 percent of cities to subsidize convenient travel options for passengers flying in and out of the Essential Air Service airports. Congress should recognize that this 37-year temporary program is no longer essential and should eliminate it." The program provides 113 separate commercial flights to rural and remote areas. (Wikipedia map)

"The Essential Air Service has long been a target of lawmakers and outside groups seeking to cut government spending," Casteel writes. "No Oklahoma communities are eligible for the subsidies; Enid and Ponca City were dropped from the program a decade ago. Lankford and [Rep. Steve] Russell have introduced separate measures to eliminate all funding for the program, which, according to Lankford, can cost federal taxpayers more than $500 per passenger." (Read more)

First federally approved drone delivery of medicine took place Friday in rural Virginia

The first federally approved drone delivery of medicine took place on Friday at a rural field hospital in southwest Virginia, Yann Ranaivo reports for The Roanoke Times. "The drone, a hexacopter roughly the size of a portable fire pit," made three trips from the airport two miles away, delivering 20 pounds of medicine to benefit two dozen patients at the annual Remote Area Medical mobile clinic in Wise County. (Times photo by Stephanie Klein-Davis: the drone leaving the Lonesome Pine Regional Airport)

Virginia Tech University's "Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership—one of six U.S. drone test sites approved by the Federal Aviation Administration—ran the groundbreaking exercise in collaboration with NASA and Flirtey, a Reno, Nev.-based drone startup," Ranaivo writes. The delivery included "medication for diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, chronic stomach pains and depression, among other conditions." (Read more)

Appalachian field hospital to be testing ground for federally approved drone deliveries of medicine

A rural field hospital in southwest Virginia will be the testing ground to see how effective drones are for delivering medicine, Jenna Portnoy reports for The Washington Post. "Organizers expect the July 17 flights to the Remote Area Medical clinic to make history as the first federally approved package deliveries in the U.S."

"Pairing the technology with the feel-good RAM clinic—where residents of central Appalachia starved for health care often camp out for days for the chance to see a dentist or doctor—could cast drones in a new light," Portnoy writes. "In addition to demystifying commercial drones and opening the door to economic development, supporters say the technology makes good sense in Wise County," which has many remote areas.

Teresa Owens Gardner, executive director of the Health Wagon, which runs two stationary health-care clinics and a mobile unit that travels to remote locations, said that once "the clinics are in place, if she runs out of supplies, there’s no way to retrieve more from stockpiles that lie hours away," Portnoy writes. Gardner told her, “They’ve got the medication. We’ve got the patients. I’ve got patients dying without medication. [Drones] could really be game-changing and increase access and save lives.”

For the event, dubbed "Lets Fly Wisely," a NASA aircraft "will carry prescriptions for 20 people from the Tazewell County Airport to Lonesome Pine Airport in Wise County," Portnoy writes. "A pilot will be on board in case the plan goes haywire, but otherwise it will be controlled by remote stations on the ground." Drugs will then be loaded on a drone "and flown about a mile to the fairgrounds where the cargo will be lowered to the ground." (Read more)

Some question need for Essential Air Service program, which provides flights to remote areas

The Essential Air Service program is an important government-funded resource that provides 113 separate commercial flights to rural and remote areas. Many of the flights are sparsely booked, so some planes travel with only a handful of passengers, a fact that has some questioning the usefulness of a costly program that serves only a small number of individuals. (Wikipedia map)

"The cost to taxpayers for subsidizing those journeys has quadrupled in the last decade to a whopping $261 million, which has some lawmakers convinced the program is anything but essential," Kris Van Cleave reports for CBS This Morning. For example, a 50-seat jet that leaves Denver twice per day for two remote North Dakota towns costs the U.S. Department of Transportation more than $6 million a year.

Passengers say the flights save them hours of travel time, and local officials say the flights attract businesses and help stimulate local economies, Van Cleave reports. Devils Lake, N.D., mayor Dick Johnson told Van Cleave, "It's key to our cities. I think small rural communities are a major part of our country, and to keep them viable, to keep them functional, to keep them a viable community, sometimes you need to have help from the big communities."

But others are not convinced, especially since government data shows that 44 of the routes flew at least two-thirds empty last year, Van Cleave writes. Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, told Van Cleave, "The Essential Air Service is really a relic of deregulation, airline deregulation, back in the 70s. We shouldn't be spending hundreds of millions just to make things a little easier for a few people to actually get to the airport." (Read more)

Federal spending bill includes $255 million to boost rural air service

The $1.1 trillion spending bill includes $255 million for a program that boosts rural air service, Collin Deppen reports for The Bradford Era in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Funds will be allocated to the federal Essential Air Service (EAS) program, a network of federal airport subsidies designed to offset the effects of airline deregulation. (Era photo)

"The bill includes $155 million—or a $6 million increase—in payments to participating air carriers, as well as an added $100 million in over-flight fees—or amounts assessed on tickets of foreign originating flights that use U.S. airspace but do not touch down here," Deppen writes.

EAS "was put into place to guarantee that small communities that were served by certificated air carriers before deregulation maintain a minimal level of scheduled air service," says the U.S. Department of Transportation website. "The Department’s mandate is to provide the EAS communities with access to the national air transportation system. As a general matter, this is accomplished by subsidizing two to four round trips a day—with three being the norm—with 19-seat aircraft to a major hub airport. The Department currently subsidizes commuter airlines to serve approximately 163 rural communities across the country that otherwise would not receive any scheduled air service."

Small airports have fewer flights; pilots' group blames low pilot salaries, but there are other causes

Rural residents who want to travel by air now have to drive longer distances to catch a flight. Rising fuel costs, declining rural populations and the allure of larger airports in bigger cities have caused the number of flights to small communities to rapidly decline since 2007, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. (News-Journal photo by Michael Cavazos: An airplane at East Texas Regional Airport in Longview, Texas)

From 2007 to 2013, the number of flights to medium-sized hubs dropped by 23.9 percent and the number of seats fell 18.5 percent. Small airports with scheduled service saw the number of flights decreased 20.1 percent—and the number of seats shrink by 15.3 percent. In comparison, larger airports had 9.1 percent fewer flights and 7 percent fewer seats.

"Major air carriers have also steered away from using the types of planes that serve smaller communities, regional airliners that seat from 19 to 100 passengers," reports the News-Journal in Longview, Tex. Instead of using those planes, which are "40 to 60 percent less fuel-efficient on a per-passenger basis than larger planes used to service big airports, major carriers are packing medium-size airliners with as many passengers as possible, operating planes that are on average 88 percent full."

"Regional airlines, which typically feed passengers from smaller airports to major carriers at larger airports, have proven less adaptable," the Journal reports. "Bryan Bedford, president and CEO of Republic Airways Holdings, a regional carrier that flew 21.5 million passengers last year, said economic pressures on regional airlines have been exacerbated by a shortage of entry-level airline pilots."

Republic said it couldn't fill 500 pilot openings, forcing the grounding of 27 regional airliners, but Air Line Pilots Association President Lee Moak told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee "there’s no shortage of qualified airline pilots, only a shortage of pilots willing to work for the 'near poverty' wages that regional airlines offer entry-level first officers." (Read more)

FAA delays closure of 149 air-traffic control towers until June 15; locals may keep some going

The Federal Aviation Administration announced this afternoon that it would delay the closure of 149 air-traffic control towers until June 15. The FAA had planned to start the process Sunday, as part of the budget cuts forced by the sequestration measure passed by Congress. 

"After the list was released on March 22, airports in Washington, Indiana and Florida filed a lawsuit to block the closures, contending that the FAA had not done proper studies before deciding to shut down the towers, which are run by FAA contractors," Lori Aratani reports for The Washington Post. "More than 1,000 contract air traffic controllers were expected to lose their jobs as a result of the closures."

Aratani adds, "FAA officials said authorities at about 50 airports and others with ties to the targeted airports said they would examine whether they could assume financial responsibility for operating the towers. By delaying the closures, FAA officials said they would work with the entities to make those transitions." (Read more)

Rural air-traffic towers to close; meatpackers win relief from USDA inspector furloughs

Many rural airports will lose their air-traffic controllers under the "sequester" budget cuts. An effort by Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, to prevent the move as part of the continuing resolution to keep the government operating appears to have backfired.

Moran (Associated Press photo) spent Monday "pretty much objecting to everything unless he was promised a vote on his amendment to protect funding for air traffic controllers at rural airports in states like his own," David Rogers reported for Politico. In his latest story, Rogers reports that Moran, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee,  voted against bringing the bill to a vote, "even whipping up Republican opposition," and was "left out in the cold" by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "His tactics plainly irritated Reid and the rural air-traffic controller cuts will now go ahead unless the Federal Aviation Administration alters its order," which would take effect April 7 at 173 small airports with little scheduled air service.

"Reid has the bipartisan backing of members on the Senate Appropriations Committee," Rogers reports. "And he was careful to give the powerful meat lobby a crack at its top amendment: language that would shift funds to the Food Safety Inspection Service to try to avoid major furloughs in the wake of sequestration. Indeed, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a chief sponsor of the meatpackers’ proposal and member of the Appropriations panel, had been careful to vote with Reid on cloture Monday night — even before agreement was reached on the meat amendment." (Read more)

The Senate approved by voice vote an amendment moving $55 million from building maintenance and school equipment grants in the Department of Agriculture to avoid inspector furloughs and temporary plant closures. The bill is expected to pass the House and be signed by President Obama.

Senators attempting to stave off cuts in rural air control, furloughs and closures in meatpacking

Some proposed amendments to the bill to keep the government running would keep rural air-traffic control towers open and avoid furloughs of meat inspectors (and thus temporary plant closures), but "There is a fear that if too many accommodations are made by the Senate, it risks a blowup with the House and exactly the sort of shutdown fight both parties want to avoid on March 27 when funding runs out," David Rogers reports for Politico. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the list of 100 amendments to the continuing resolution needs to be substantially reduced to get a vote on the bill Monday.

Blunt, Pryor (Bill Clark, Getty Images)

Republicans have been most prominent in seeking relief. Sen. Jerry Moran wants to shift $50 million to protect contract air-traffic control towers important to rural states like his own Kansas," Rogers writes. "And with major meatpacking houses in both states, Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas has teamed with his Republican neighbor, Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, to try to add $55 million to the current Senate bill to shore up the Food Safety and Inspection Service." They would get $30 million of the money by deferring maintenance on Agriculture Department buildings, and $25 million "from a new grant program favored by the White House to help schools buy equipment for school breakfast programs."

Rogers gives details on the FSIS budget and mentions two other rural issues: "The House adds significantly more than the Senate for wildland fire management in the Interior Department and Forest Service. The Senate does more than the House for the Indian Health Service. (Read more)

FAA prepares to close air-traffic control towers, many serving rural areas

The Federal Aviation Administration has said it might close 100 air-traffic control towers April 1 because of the across-the-board budget cuts required by the "sequester" law that took effect March 1. Most would be at small airports serving rural areas; some are at general-aviation airports.

Airports and their allies say the towers are needed for safety, or even to maintain their scant airline service, but Stephanie McCrrummen of The Washington Post took a flight to Garden City, Kan., and found travelers unconcerned. But a traffic-control manager warned her that pilots, who have more responsibility when there is no tower, can mess up. (Read more)

With regional jet routes disappearing, smaller communities may be out of the air system entirely

Regional airlines operate half the nation's scheduled flights and are the main links between smaller communities and the national air-service network. But now, as several of those carriers are being closed or are in bankruptcy court protection, big airlines are phasing out smaller and costlier regional jets and cutting some low-traffic regional routes. As a result, reports Charisse Jones of USA Today, many smaller communities may lose some or all of their air service. (AP photo of a Comair jet by Al Behrman)

"We're going to see some airports go dark," William Swelbar, research engineer for the  International Center for Air Transportation at MIT, told Jones. "The highway is going to be the connection to the air network system." 

"We think by 2016, virtually every 50-seat jet or smaller (plane) will be out of the system," industry analyst Mike Boyd told Jones. There are nearly 500 communities in this country "that rely exclusively on regional airlines for their service," said Roger Cohen, president of the Regional Airline Association. "Any one of them … is at risk of losing (some), if not all of its connectivity to the global marketplace in this environment." That troubles Ron Cox, who coordinates production and delivery of big purchases for his company. The Lubbock, Tex., resident says 95 percent of his travel is on regional jets. "Regional jets are the lifeblood of Middle America air travel," he told Jones.

"By 2018 about 100 fewer airports will be served," Boyd said, "but that doesn't mean 100 (more) communities won't have air service." Many people living in smaller cities already bypass the local airport to drive to a larger one farther away, where there are more flight options and lower fares, MIT's Swelbar said. He predicted that maybe only "a handful" of regional airlines will survive the current turmoil. But, he says, they could thrive by returning to their roots, flying independently and providing service to smaller markets that are left behind by larger airlines. (Read more)

House votes to boost subsidies for rural flights

Deeming it "a rural issue," a bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives allowed passage of a transportation and housing spending bill that would boost funding by 11 percent for a government program that subsidizes air travel to rural areas, an initiative long criticized by budget watchdogs as rife with waste. Democratic support was strong but lawmakers ultimately voted 261-163 to provide $214 million for the Essential Air Service program, which pays carriers to continue flights to more than 100 small communities, such as Dodge City, Kan., and Huron, S.D.

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that critics say the flights often are little-used and can cost taxpayers hundreds of dollars per passenger. The program “lavishly subsidizes some of the least essential air services in the country,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif. Some Republicans, however, said their constituents depend on the service. “It is the only way some of these airports stay open,” said Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a freshman whose district covers 69 counties in central and western Kansas. Without the program, Huelskamp said, his constituents would have to drive hundreds of miles to the nearest airport.