COVID-19 has made it possible for many of us to work from home and, increasingly, people are moving from large cities to suburbs and small towns to rural areas.
Due to the lack of access to a large airport, this may not be an option for people who have to travel frequently for business or for people who have to travel for other reasons, such as travel. B. to receive medical care. However, a little-known government program turns this idea on its head. Welcome to the Essential Air Service (EAS).
The history of the EAS
The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 gave US airlines almost complete freedom to decide which domestic markets they would serve and how much they would charge for that service.
To ensure that small towns and rural areas that had received air services before deregulation continued to receive services, Congress added section 419 to the federal aviation law that created the EAS program. The program provides subsidies for airlines to continue service in these areas.
The EAS program is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which determines:
- The minimum level of service required by every community
- The hub airports that flights come and go to
- The minimum number of round-trip flights per day
- The size of the aircraft and the number of seats available.
Currently, 60 parishes in Alaska and 115 parishes in the lower 48 neighboring states are served by the EAS program. The program is funded by fees paid by foreign aircraft flying over the US but not landing, as well as excise taxes on passengers, fuel and cargo.
In 2000, the Ministry of Transport and Affiliated Agencies Funds Act prohibited the provision of DOT Significant flight subsidies for communities in the lower 48 states that are less than 112 km from the nearest major or medium-sized hub airport or that require a subsidy rate of more than $ 200 per passenger. unless these communities are more than 338 km from the nearest medium or large hub airport. Communities however, may request a waiver of the $ 200 limit.
Hub airports are part of the “hub and spoke” system used by airlines today. A hub is a central airport through which flights are directed. Spokes are the routes planes take to and from the hub airport. Airlines usually designate one or more hub airports as the flight operations center. For example, Delta Airlines has Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as its hub and operations center.
To save money on the program, the 2011 Airport and Airway Enlargement Act limited EAS subsidies to $ 1,000 per passenger regardless of distance to the nearest hub airport, except for the communities in Alaska and Hawaii.
In 2012, the FAA Modernization and Reform Act stated that a community must entertain an average of 10 or more arriving or departing passengers (enplanements) per day to be eligible, with communities in Alaska and Hawaii and such These are more than 280 km from the nearest large or medium-sized airport, except.
Impact of EAS on a Community
The continued flight service helps communities promote economic development and supports jobs. Let’s take a closer look at how EAS is affecting the Vernal community, Utah.
Vernal Regional Airport, Utah Source: Don Green Photography
Vernal is located in the far northeast of the state, about 280 km east of Salt Lake City and 32 km west of the Colorado border. As of the 2018 census, the city had 10,370 inhabitants.
Thanks to EAS, Vernal has two daily departures and two arrivals via SkyWest Airlines or United Express, a division of United Airlines, according to Flightradar24.
All flights to and from Vernal connect to Denver International Airport, a major hub airport, and they are on 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft. Air carriers typically enter into two- or four-year contracts that allow the DOT or municipalities to switch carriers if they so choose. DOT puts the end of the contract on a scale so that new subsidy rates can be negotiated for new contracts.
Six to nine months before a contract expires, the DOT issues a call for proposals (RFP) to air carriers to submit service and subsidy proposals. For communities other than Alaska, DOT considers five factors when deciding which carrier to choose:
- The proven reliability of the air carrier
- What agreements has the airline made with other airlines to provide ongoing service from the hub airport?
- What interline arrangements does the airline have with other airlines that allow the transportation of passengers and cargo through a reservation, ticket and baggage check-in?
- The preferences of community members and elected officials
- What plan does the carrier have to market its service to the community?
Despite efforts to curb EAS subsidies, the program’s price has increased 132 percent since 2008. Part of this increase is due to high fuel prices in the air from 2008 to 2014. The EAS Act does not name cost among the four factors that the DOT must consider when evaluating air carrier offers. In addition, neither airlines nor municipalities are required to select service options that minimize government costs.
Which aircraft are used?
The law does not specify the aircraft that will carry passengers from EAS-subsidized cities. This currently includes the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200, which was manufactured by the Canadian manufacturer between 1991 and 2006. The aircraft, the picture of which appears at the beginning of this story, is powered by two rear-mounted GE CF334 turbofan engines.
While production of the aircraft ended in 2006, many of these aircraft will remain in service. In 2020, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries bought the entire CRJ line from Bombardier and will continue to support the aircraft.
Cessna 208 caravan. Source: Lieutenant Colonel Scott Voskovitch / Wikimedia
On the smaller side is the Cessna 208 Caravan, which accommodates nine passengers in a pressureless cabin. The first production model of this aircraft was certified in 1986 and is powered by a single PT6A turboprop engine from Pratt & Whitney Canada.
The aircraft has a fixed landing gear that can consist of wheels, floats or even skis. As of November 2017, there were 2,600 aircraft in the sky. In addition to flying commuters, the aircraft are used for flight training, air freight and humanitarian missions.
Pilatus PC-12 Source: Chris Finney / Wikimedia
The Pilatus PC-12, which has been manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft from Stans, Switzerland, since 1991, is also small. The PC-12 is the world’s best-selling single-engine turbine aircraft with a pressure engine. 1,700 aircraft flew in October 2019.
Embraer ERJ-145 Source: John Davies / Wikimedia
The 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 was introduced in April 1997 and is manufactured by the Brazilian company Embraer. It is powered by two AE3007 turbofan engines mounted on the fuselage, giving the aircraft a range of up to 3,700 km (2,000 nautical miles). Production of the aircraft ended in 2020, and 1,231 aircraft were built.
Will EAS continue?
On February 10, 2020, the administration released its budget request for fiscal year 2021 and included funds of $ 141.7 million for EAS. That was $ 20.3 million less than fiscal 2020 funds. On July 8, 2020, the House’s Transportation Subcommittee approved the budget proposal. With the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, the EAS program was re-authorized until fiscal year 2023.
Some communities, such as Hagerstown, Maryland in October 2019 and Jamestown, NY in January 2018, have lost their EAS grants and with them their commercial flight service. Last year, Muskegon, Michigan wanted to lose its EAS grant because it is only 77 km from Grand Rapids Airport. That airport was on the way to achieving “medium hub” status, but then COVID-19 struck, passengers shrank, and Grand Rapids failed to achieve medium hub status. This enabled Muskegon to continue receiving its EAS grant.
Seasonality also plays a role. West Yellowstone Airport in Montana receives flights on board Delta Airlines CRJ200 twice a day, but only from May to mid-October. Similarly, the Bar Harbor, Maine airport is served between Labor Day and Memorial Day by Cape Air, Massachusetts, based in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. However, during the peak summer season, from Memorial Day through Florida’s Silver Airways, it is served by Labor Day.
Below are just a few of the cities in the lower 48 states currently subsidized by EAS, their airport, hub airport, carrier, aircraft type, and seating capacity. The Ministry of Transport maintains a full list of the airports subsidized by the EAS.
| Status | Community | Airport | aims | Air carrier | Airplanes / maximum seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE | Prescott | Ernest A. Liebesfeld | Denver (DEN) Los Angeles (LAX) | SkyWest Airlines dba United Express | Bombardier CRJ200 / 50 |
| WITH | Hot Springs | Memorial Field Airport | Dallas / Fort Worth (DFW) Memphis (MEM) | Southern Airways Express | Cessna 208 Caravan / 9 Pilatus PC-12/9 |
| THE | Merced | Merced Regional Airport | Los Angeles (LAX) Sacramento (SMF) | Air shop | Pilatus PC-12/8 |
| HE | Sioux City | Sioux Gateway Airport | Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) Denver (DEN) | SkyWest dba United Express | Bombardier CRJ200 / 50 |
| ME | Bar Harbor | Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport | Boston (BOS) | Cape Air | Cessna 402C / 9 or Tecnam P2012 Traveler / 9 |
| ME | Muskegon | Muskegon County Airport | Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) | SkyWest Airlines dba United Express | Bombardier CRJ200 / 50 |
| MT | Butte | Bert Mooney Airport | Salt Lake City (SLC) | SkyWest Airlines dba Delta connection | Bombardier CRJ200 / 50 |
| NEW | Plattsburgh | Plattsburgh International Airport | Washington Dulles (IAD) | SkyWest Airlines dba United Express | Bombardier CRJ200 / 50 |
| OUT | Vernal | Vernal Regional Airport | Denver (DEN) | SkyWest Airlines dba United Express | Bombardier CRJ200 / 50 |
| WV | Greenbrier / White Sulfur Springs (Lewisburg) | Greenbrier Valley Airport | Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) Washington-Dulles (IAD) | SkyWest Airlines dba United Express | Bombardier CRJ200 / 50 |
The advantages of EAS
People in large cities often have to travel long distances to get to their airport, airport parking is expensive, airports are overcrowded, and TSA lines can be criminally long. Compare this with driving less than 10 minutes to get to your airport, paying minimal parking fees, avoiding crowds and long TSA lines, and being taken to the nearest hub airport. That doesn’t sound like such a bad deal.
Think of it this way: Instead of being in “the Boonies”, you would be right in the middle of the action.
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