Originally Posted by dn_wisconsin

Don't worry I didn't take anything personal. Here is what I found on the govt. EAS website.

Q. How is it determined which communities are guaranteed EAS and which are not?

A. The Airline Deregulation Act of October 24, 1978, simply said that any community receiving scheduled air service from a certificated carrier on that date (746 in total, with approximately 200 in Alaska) was eligible, and instructed the Civil Aeronautics Board, now the Department of Transportation, to implement procedures to guarantee each community’s EAS. Even the very largest cities, such as New York and Los Angeles are technically EAS communities. However, Congress created the program to ensure only a safety-net level of access to the national transportation system for communities that would otherwise receive no schedules air service, so as a practical matter, New York and Los Angeles would never receive subsidy support.

Over the years the Congress and the Department have worked to streamline the EAS program and increase its efficiency, mostly by eliminating subsidy support for communities that are within a reasonable drive of a major hub airport. Currently, communities are not eligible to received subsidized air service if they are within 70 driving miles of an FAA-designated Large or Medium Hub airport, or if their subsidy per passenger exceeds $200 (annual subsidy level divided by annual passengers generated). Communities more than 210 highway miles from the nearest Medium or Large Hub are exempt from the $200-per-passenger standard.


Hope this helps some.