Thirteen Smaller Airports Reportedly Do Not Meet Eligibility Requirements

The FAA is proposing to cut Essential Air Service subsidies to 13 small airports that do not meet the eligibility requirements, according to a document the agency quietly posted April 24.

Under the 2012 FAA law, airports within 175 driving miles of a large- or medium-hub airport must average at least 10 enplanements a year to qualify for the program (Alaska and Hawaii are excluded). The affected airports have 20 days to object, and the department can grant a waiver if it chooses.

The list includes an airport near D.C., in Hagerstown, MD, as well as three in Pennsylvania and two each in Georgia and California. The rest of the list: Athens, GA; Bradford, Franklin/Oil City, and Lancaster, PA; Athens and Macon, GA; El Centro and Merced, CA; Fort Dodge, IA; Greenville, MS; Jackson, TN; Kingman, AZ; and Muscle Shoals, AL.

According to the DOT website, The EAS program was established as a safety net for the smaller and more isolated communities across the country that had scheduled air service at the time the ADA was passed in 1978.  For the first 12 years the sole criterion for eligibility was whether the community had received scheduled air service on October 24, 1978, the date the ADA was signed into law.  In 1990 Congress made some minor reforms by establishing both mileage and a subsidy-per-passenger standards.

On August 5, 2011, the President signed the “Airport and Airway Extension Act, Part IV” (Public Law No: 112-27).  That law contained a provision which prohibits the Department from providing EAS to communities whose annual passenger subsidies are greater than $1,000 per passenger, regardless of their distance from the nearest hub airport. Subsequently, the “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012” (Public Law No: 112-55, November 18, 2011) waived the requirement that communities receive EAS on 15-seat or larger aircraft.

FMI: www.faa.gov