House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee To Look Into FAA's Essential Air Service (EAS) Program

The Aviation Subcommittee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) (oictured), will hold a hearing next week to examine the state of air service to small and rural U.S. communities and explore ways to provide continued and improved air services to these areas of the country.

Airports and air operators across the United States help connect large and small communities, create jobs, and contribute significant economic output. Airports are not only the gateway for millions of passengers who fly commercially, they are an important staging point for emergency services, law enforcement, and disaster relief, as well as transporting cargo and providing reliever runways if necessary.  Airports are life lines that connect important commercial services to residents in rural communities all across the country.

The witnesses list includes:

• The Honorable Susan Kurland, Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Transportation
• Dr. Gerald L. Dillingham, Director of Civil Aviation Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office
• Captain Lee Moak, President, Air Line Pilots Association
• Mr. Bryan K. Bedford, President & CEO, Republic Airways Holdings
• Mr. Dan E. Mann, Executive Director, Columbia Metropolitan Airport
• Mr. Brian L. Sprenger, Airport Director, Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport

According to material prepared by the committee's staff, In the past decade, the aviation sector has experienced a decrease in service due to higher costs (e.g., fuel), industry consolidation, and a severe economic recession. Air service has been impacted as a whole since the economic down turn, resulting in roughly 1.4 million yearly scheduled domestic flights being cut from 2007 to 2012. Since 2008, smaller airports have been greatly impacted by reductions in service. From 2007 to 2012, small-, medium-, and non-hub airports have lost 21.3 percent of scheduled domestic flights. In that same time frame however, the twenty nine largest airports have lost only 8.8 percent of their scheduled domestic flights.

Given the important role that airports play in many small and rural communities, the loss of air service is concerning.

In 1978, EAS was established in order to provide a certain level of scheduled air service for small and rural communities, and retain a vital link to the national air transportation system following deregulation. Under the EAS, air carriers that want to serve eligible EAS communities, and meet programmatic criteria, receive a subsidy from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide such air service.

Funding for the EAS program is derived through annual transfers of overflight fees paid to the FAA by foreign aircraft that fly through United States airspace but do not land in the country, and is also supplemented by annual appropriations of varying size.

The hearing, entitled “Air Service to Small and Rural Communities,” is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. on April 30, 2014 in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building.

FMI: http://transportation.house.gov