The $63 million appropriated for the Essential Air Service program in this year’s transportation bill appeared likely to increase to a level closer to the full $120 million authorized by the Transportation Safety and Stabilization Act, as conferees last month weighed a Senate defense appropriations bill that would add another $57 million in EAS funding. Depending on the outcome of a conference committee report, expected by the close of the last congressional session on December 21, the 18 communities slated to lose their EAS funding on October 1 could receive their subsidies for another year.
The $120 million earmarked for EAS by the airline stabilization bill matched the amount the Regional Airline Association cited as the minimum needed to maintain service to all the communities currently included in the program. As written, the Senate defense appropriations bill not only raises funding by $57 million, it explicitly guarantees that no city on the EAS list before September 11 will lose its subsidies, according to Regional Aviation Partners chairman Maurice Parker. Without the additional funding in the defense bill, at least 44 cities stood to lose their EAS subsidies, estimates RAA.
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