Silver Lining
Lancaster Airport has an EAS subsidy, even though it’s just a 34 mile and a 35 minute drive from Harrisburg Airport. Should taxpayers really be subsidizing that? NO!
Even among those who support the EAS program in some form, there’s debate as to whether funding should be on the federal or state level. For example, I think most can agree there’s merit to some sort of subsidies in rural Alaska, though many argue it’s something that the state government should pay for, rather than the federal government.
Do keep in mind that some EAS services even fly completely empty, without a single passenger. Airlines are only paid by the federal government if they operate the flight, and many flights are profitable through the subsidy alone. So under this program airlines are encouraged to operate completely empty flights. What sense does that make?
To provide one example Mokulele operates 4 flights daily between Los Angeles and El Centro-Imperial Apt. The airline is paid $2.44 million per year to operate that route.
So,
To break down the numbers, that’s a subsidy of $6,700 per day, or $835 per flight in each direction, or $93 per seat per direction.
If the budget for the EAS program is in fact cut, expect airlines to pull out of a lot of small markets, especially in Pennsylvania.