Government Announces Funding for Rural Airline Service to End as Soon as Sunday
Federal officials has announced that financial support from a federal initiative that supports commercial air service to rural airports are set to expire as soon as Sunday because of the ongoing government shutdown.
The US transportation department indicated that financial assistance under the Essential Air Service initiative are expected to expire as soon as Sunday after the agency transferred separate financial resources from the Federal Aviation Administration as an advance.
The department is in the process of alerting airline operators about the financial gap and alerting communities about potential effects.
Federal authorities allocates approximately $350m in annual funding for the program.
In recent months, the White House proposed cutting financial support by $308m for the Essential Air Service, which has support among GOP legislators because it provides services to rural, largely Republican areas.
During the first presidency of Donald Trump, the White House proposed eliminating the Essential Air Service program – but lawmakers opted to increase financial support instead.
This initiative typically supports two return flights each day using medium-sized planes – or more frequent flights with smaller planes. Officials report that under the program, approximately 65 areas in the northern state receive service and 112 communities across the other 49 states and Puerto Rico that otherwise might not receive any commercial air connectivity.
“Every state across the country will feel the effects,” the transportation secretary commented during a press conference, noting the service had bipartisan support. “We don't have the money for that initiative moving forward.”
