EAS Balances Budgetary Requirements with Rural Air Service Needs
Great Lakes Aviation lost its $1.7 million subsidy to serve Ely, Nev., due to a new Congressionally mandated per-passenger limit of $1,000.
Great Lakes Aviation lost its $1.7 million subsidy to serve Ely, Nev., due to a new Congressionally mandated per-passenger limit of $1,000.

The Essential Air Service (EAS), a $193 million DOT program that subsidizes scheduled airline service to approximately 160 rural communities, saw an initial 2013 budget cut of $16 million in response to sequestration. The media response in rural communities was shrill, with headlines such as “Sequester could ground commercial air services statewide” (Mississippi Business Journal, March 22) and “Sequester could ground Great Lakes airline” (Wyoming Business Report, March 7).

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