Annual Report - Emerald Media

Regional Aircraft Statistics
RAA calls for common sense adjustments to the
Essential Air Service program while underlining
its importance to communities
Rural air service
subsidy could wither
in today’s political
climate
12:00 AM, Aug. 12, 2011
Written by
LEDYARD KING
WASHINGTON — The federal program that for more
than three decades has provided commercial air service
to scores of remote communities across the country has
routinely been in the sights of Washington budget cutters
— and has always survived largely intact.
However, the Essential Air Service has never faced the
kind of fiscal pressures now roiling Washington.
Last year’s election brought in a wave of lawmakers
eager to slash any government program that seems faintly
exorbitant or unnecessary. A bill the House passed earlier
this year to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration
called for elimination of the program by 2014, but that is
stalled by Senate opposition.
More recently, a measure to keep the FAA fully operational
Taxpayers
subsidize empty
flights to rural
airports
while Congress negotiates a long-term reauthorization
of the agency was held up for two weeks this summer as
some lawmakers tried to kill EAS subsidies that provide
service to more than a dozen airports. Rep. John Mica, a
Florida Republican who chairs the House Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee, referred to subsidies for
By Kevin Begos and Adrain Saintz August 12,
2011 6:15 am
(AP) - On some days, the pilots with
Great Lakes Airlines fire up a twin-engine
Beechcraft 1900 at the Ely, Nev., airport
and depart for Las Vegas without a single
passenger on board. And the federal government
pays them to do it.
Federal statistics reviewed by The Associated
Press show that in 2010, just 227
passengers flew out of Ely while the airline
got $1.8 million in subsidies. The travelers
paid $70 to $90 for a one-way ticket. The
cost to taxpayers for each ticket: $4,107.
Ely is one of 153 rural communities where
airlines get subsidies through the $200
million Essential Air Service program,
and one of 13 that critics say should be
eliminated from it. Some call the spending
a boondoggle, but others see it as a critical
financial lifeline to ensure economic stability
in rural areas.
Steve Smith, executive director of the
February 15, 2011
Dear Representative ___:
We would like to express our appreciation and support for this Committee in
making FAA Reauthorization a top priority in the 112
legislation is vital to moving our nation’s air transportation network forward.
While each of our organizations have unique perspectives on HR 658, The
Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization and Reform Act, we are united
in our support for the Essential Air Service program. We urge you to eliminate
provisions to cut and ultimately end the Essential Air Service program at airports
in the lower 48 United States.
th Congress. We believe this
While over three decades have passed since the program’s inception, small and
rural communities do not rely any less on commercial air service than they did in
1978, when Congress promised them airline deregulation would not disconnect
them from the nation’s air transportation network.
Cutting Essential Air Service would serve as a deathblow to the economic health
of hundreds of small communities across the nation. It is unimaginable that a
business would start up in, or relocate to a community where the closest
commercial airport is located over two, four, six, or even eight hours away. The
loss of commercial air service at these communities would likewise crush existing
businesses and would cause even greater numbers of doctors and other skilled
professionals – already in short supply in rural areas – to migrate to less isolated
communities.
While the consequences of cutting this program will be borne most heavily by
those passengers left without air service, reducing the volume of air travel from
these communities will carry negative economic consequences for the entire air
transportation industry. Of the 435 commercial airports outside of Alaska and
Hawaii, 106 of those airports receive air service only through the Essential Air
Service program. Eliminating the program at those airports would shut down air
travel to and from nearly one quarter of our nation’s commercial airports. The
economic impact on our nation’s air transportation network, which provides
more than 10.9 million direct U.S. jobs and serves over 750 million passengers
annually, would be substantial. Moreover, eliminating the program also
eliminates the jobs of thousands of employees of those airports and the airlines
Gannett News
…“This is not an airline program.
This is a program for communities
so that they can maintain
their connection to the global
marketplace,” said Roger Cohen,
president of the Regional Airline
Association, which counts EAS
carriers among its members.
Unlike skeptics who point to
high costs and near-empty planes,
Cohen said the latest tussle over the
program suggests how important
EAS is viewed in Congress because
lawmakers were “willing to go to
the mat” to protect it.
Associated Press
…Faye Malarkey Black, a vice
president for the Regional Airline
Association, said she believes few
federal programs accomplish as
much for $200 million as EAS does.
“They call it essential for a
reason,” she said. She said her
industry group supports “common
sense adjustments” for eligibility,
but added that rural communities
already struggle to attract and keep
doctors and other professionals.
“If you take away air service, who
wants to live in those communities?”
she said.
Coalition letter to US Senate
and House Transportation &
Infrastructure Committee from
ACI, AAAE, NASAO and RAA
…Of the 435 commercial airports
outside of Alaska and Hawaii, 106 of
those airports receive air service only
through the Essential Air Service
program. Eliminating the program
at those airports would shut down
air travel to and from nearly one
quarter of our nation’s commercial
airports. The economic impact
on our nation’s air transportation
network, which provides more than
10.9 million direct US jobs and serves
over 750 million passengers annually,
would be substantial.
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RAA 2011 Annual Report