Well, I started reading this because someone on the regional form posted a link to news about ExpressJet. Anyway, this story is about Essential Air Service (EAS), and I thought it was quite a good read.
http://www.aviationplanning.com/asrc1.htm

If it's not the first story, scroll down to February 12th.
What does everyone think?

I think this article is dead on. EAS needs to stop flying to small communities that don't deserve air serve. Take Pueblo, CO. I have spent time in Pueblo, and have several friends from that little town. It does not need air service. It is only 45 minutes from Colorado Springs that has plenty of air service. Both are connected by a major interstate highway (I-25) Load factor is 28% for the PUB-DEN subsidized route on a B-1900. That's about 5 seats! Two flights a day. The government does not need to subsidize this route. Let it die. KCOS is an alternative for a small, not very important town like Pueblo. But people like Ken Salazar (D-CO) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) want to keep this program the way it is (which is pretty much like the 1970's) to suck up to voters in those tiny towns.

On the other end of the spectrum is towns that deserve EAS. The article mentions Presque Isle, Maine. 50 miles from the nearest interstate. 2-3 hour drive to the nearest airport on a good weather day. Service is three S-340's (34 seats) and load factor on the route is 50%. That town deserves EAS. But Bush wants to cut funding for the entire EAS program.
Cutting funding for the program cuts funding for EAS routes that are useful, like the Presque Isle, Maine route.

The real solution is to fix EAS. Cut service to towns that do not deserve it (Pueblo is one). Keep existing funding and service levels at places that need EAS (like Presque Isle, Maine. This solves the problem.
1. Cuts cost by cutting service where it is not needed
2. Keeps EAS funding at 100% for airports that do need it