Regulations and Government
Deficits, Tea Party Poses Legitimate Threat to Essential Air Service
In an all-too-predictable development, members of Congress have launched their annual attack on the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, again forcing the
The venerable Beech 1900D still serves as the backbone of the U.S. Essential Air Service fleet.
The venerable Beech 1900D still serves as the backbone of the U.S. Essential Air Service fleet.

In an all-too-predictable development, members of Congress have launched their annual attack on the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, again forcing the Regional Airline Association to devote disproportionate energy toward defending a relatively paltry $200 million out of the more than $129 billion in transportation spending the Obama Administration has proposed for FY2012.

This time, however, unusually heated rhetoric over budget deficits has raised the stakes for the RAA and the more than 150 communities whose businesses depend on the air service supported by the EAS program’s modest largesse. As the RAA and several like-minded alphabet groups have noted, a negative outcome could mean the end of their lifeline to the nation’s air transportation network and a descent into further economic malaise, or worse.