US Says Funding for Rural Airline Service to End as Soon as Sunday
The Trump administration has stated that financial support from a federal initiative that subsidizes commercial air service to rural airports are set to expire as soon as Sunday because of the current federal funding lapse.
The US transportation department indicated that financial assistance under the Essential Air Service initiative are expected to expire as early as this weekend after the department transferred unrelated funding from the Federal Aviation Administration as an advance.
Transportation officials is currently notifying airline operators about the financial gap and alerting local areas about possible impacts.
Federal authorities allocates approximately $350 million in yearly financial support for the program.
Earlier this year, the White House proposed cutting financial support by $308m for the air service program, which has support among Republican lawmakers because it provides services to rural, largely Republican areas.
During the first presidency of Donald Trump, the White House proposed eliminating the Essential Air Service initiative – but Congress opted to increase financial support instead.
The program typically subsidizes two round trips each day using medium-sized planes – or more frequent flights with smaller planes. Officials report that under the program, approximately 65 areas in Alaska have air access and 112 locations across the other 49 states and the territory that likely wouldn't have any airline service.
“All states nationwide will feel the effects,” the transportation chief stated during a press conference, noting the program had support from both parties. “We lack the money for that initiative going forward.”