The federal Essential Air Service program, which subsidizes flights between small towns and hub airports in Colorado and across the U.S., was fully funded in a bill drafted in the U.S. House, .
Jennifer Hing, a spokeswoman for the House Committee on Appropriations, said the legislation would grant the nearly 40-year-old program $150 million — the same as it got last year — for fiscal year 2018. Combined with $119 million from fees, the total funding level for the program would be $269 million, or $6 million more than it got last year, she said.
The funding bill was created in the appropriations panel’s subcommittee on transportation, housing and urban development. It is set to come before the full committee for a vote Monday night.
Republican lawmakers — like Colorado’s U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner and U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez — and the small towns and air carriers that rely on the program, pushed back against efforts to cut Essential Air Service funding. They said the program is vital for communities that otherwise would have little to no link to the outside world.
“After requesting that House appropriators protect the Essential Air Service from disproportionate cuts in 2018, Congressman Tipton is pleased that the committee has recognized the importance of this program to rural America and maintained its critical funding,” said Liz Payne, a spokeswoman for Tipton.
Essential Air Service, created in 1978 to maintain flights to small towns after the airline industry was deregulated and carriers began setting their own ticket prices and routes, has been one of many programs facing in President Donald Trump’s proposed .
In its federal budget proposal, the White House noted that the air service created in 1978 was intended to be temporary and has a high per-passenger subsidy. It also contends that people in affected communities are relatively close to larger airports and could use other modes of transportation.
The program has frequently been on the federal budget chopping block but has managed stay afloat.
Denver International Airport has the most Essential Air destinations of any hub in the continental U.S., serving 22 rural communities across Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas. Cortez, Alamosa and Pueblo are the Colorado towns serviced by EAS.
Essential Air Service destinations accessed through Denver International Airport
Click the markers to see the destinations, subsidies, carriers and plane passenger sizes for each route.
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Note: Map markers are centered on airports, not cities