Cape Air has already proven that when EAS funds get pulled they pull out of the market, so needless to say, it would not be good for anyone, except perhaps the American tax payer.
I whole heartedly agree with the previous poster that EAS is government fat that could easily be trimmed. Those are my dollars supplementing those cheap tickets, and I think the money could be spent better elsewhere or even better yet, not spent at all since it is adding to the deficet.
Saint Louis has already been discussed, so I will leave that alone. But look at Augusta and Rockland Maine. It is a two hour drive to Portland from Rockland, and Portland is served by pretty much every major air carrier. (
Airlines | Portland International Jetport) Augusta is only 1 hour and 12 minutes away from from Portland. This is government waste any way you look at it. On top of the waste for the EAS, more government money is spent to have a TSA station open, and to maintain and build terminals. Rockland just built a new terminal at a cost of 3.2 million dollars, paid for by The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which of course is my tax money, or at least use to be. All so that a few people can not be bothered to drive down to Portland to catch a flight?
It is a double edge sword, because I love Cape Air, but I hate government waste.
With that said, I am sure that there are communities that need EAS, but most of them are not on Cape Air's route map. I think this could be a real problem for Cape Air in the future, along with aging aircraft, and high pilot turn over when the forthcoming hiring boom really kicks off. However, the people at the top of the food chain at Cape Air are smart, creative people, and I have faith that they will steer the company in the right direction when they are presented with these challenges, or any challenge for that matter.
Whew, sorry for getting off topic and ranting a little, but I do think that this is something that needs to be discussed.