A good number of EAS cities are within a 2 hour drive of a larger city with airline service, so its no great community loss if their service goes away. For other cities, a much smaller number in very rural areas, EAS isn't just convenient, but actually essential.

I see a lot more Seaport Airlines PC-12s hauling EAS mail in the future...that is the perfect airplane for those super-thin subsidized routes, IMO.

Upside for aviation? There's still business to be done in these communities losing airline service, which will make business aviation look more promising. I know more than a small handful of our clients are located in small cities with limited or non-existant airline service, and our two aircraft make doing business in those cities not just possible, but profitable.