Rural airports across the country may see funding run out next month for a program that helps keep many of them operational.
The Essential Air Services program has as its mandate a guarantee that certified air carriers must serve nearly 200 small markets. In so doing, the program subsidizes a minimum of two round trips daily for planes with 30 to 50 seats coming and going from any number of rural communities.
Established in 1978, the program has proven particularly popular in the West, supporting services to the Ernest A. Love Field in Prescott, Arizona; as well as the San Luis Valley Regional Airport in Alamosa, Colorado; the Cortez Municipal Airport in Cortez, Colorado; and Pueblo Memorial Airport in Pueblo, Colorado.
In New Mexico, the program has provided services for the Cavern City Air Terminal in Carlsbad; Clovis Regional Airport in Clovis; and Grant County Airport just to the southeast of Silver City.
Last week Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that some $41 million in additional funding had been secured to keep the Essential Air Services program up and running. But he criticized Congressional Democrats for their part in the government shutdown, charging that they were ignoring the importance of a program designed to connect “rural neighborhoods with vital services and opportunities.”
Last year 177 smaller airports received nearly $592 million in subsidies through the program. Notes the publication Simple Flying: the program remains “an essential economic lifeline for the airports that receive these services.”
In a statement issued by the Transportation Department it was noted that should the program run out of funding by November, the Department will “suspend the contractual obligations of the air carriers providing Essential Air Service” until such time as the “appropriated funding is restored, and budgetary authority is reinstated.”
October 14, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
