Calling it a good case study of how poorly the government sometimes keeps pace with the free market and consumer tastes, The New York Times cited the Essential Air Service Program as a waste of taxpayer's money. The October 6 article, authored by Jeff Bailey, said the program also showed "how entrenched interests, even in the face of some creative map-drawing, can keep such a program aloft in the face of efforts to ground it."

Meanwhile a report in the Bangor Daily News called the program counterproductive to alleviating congestion at hub airports such as Boston's Logan Airport while an air traffic forecast out of the Federal Aviation Administration noted regional airports could act as a safety valve to such airports.

The Times cited Lewistown, Mont., where the airport manager noted that locals are used to driving 110 miles to the nearest Wal-Mart and 125 miles to the airport in Billings, despite the availability of 19-seat subsidized service which attracts about three people a day and costs $472.78 each in federal funding. He also indicated that other points on the DOT's hit list since 2001, when airline abandonments forced more points to be added to the already-squeezed program, were also sparsely used. Lewistown averages about three passengers daily; Alamagordo, N.M. attracted only four or five passengers daily, while Brookings, an hour's drive from jet service in Sioux Falls, S.D., averaged 2.5 passengers daily. Pueblo, Colo, 40 miles from Colorado Springs with jet flights to 14 major cities and 110 miles from Denver, drew a combined five passengers daily, which the airport manager indicated might be a generous estimate. "We were close to three a day last year," he told Bailey, indicating traffic is now about eight per day.

"The emptier the subsidized flights," said Bailey, "it seems the more cherished the program became. Members of Congress regularly pressure the Transportation Department to continue subsidies." He also cited Regional Aviation Partners (RAP) as having been formed to preserve and expand the program, having successfully stopped efforts to drop Alamagordo, Brookings and Lancaster, PA, which is 70 miles from Philadelphia. He noted that RAP is funded by Mesa Air Group a large user of subsidies. "We don't make money in the program," he quoted Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein, "we do it because we have the equipment" and owe more than $1 million on each of the 20 Beech 1900s that remain in its fleet. "No one I'm aware of has figured out how to operate the 1900 outside the Essential Air Service program."

Regional Airport Use Urged

Bedford, Worcester and New Haven are expected to become safety valves to the growing congestion at Boston Logan and Bradley International, according to FAA forecasts showing 70 percent more traffic at New England's 10 busiest Airports by 2020. The forecast is good news for the three airports which have struggled to attract airlines. Worcester, alone, has seen 13 airlines come and go in 18 years, including the abandonment by Allegiant Air, which departed last month.

Meanwhile, a report in the Bangor Daily News indicated that connecting essential air service points to major hubs, as is done from Vermont and Maine to Boston, is actually counterproductive to alleviating congestion. Instead, passengers should be linked to regional airports, something the DOT favors in its proposed changes to the program. (RAN, October 2, p.1)

The New England Airport Coalition urged Congress to consider a regional approach to EAS, using such airports as Manchester, N.H. and Portland, ME. The report indicated that between 1996 and 1999, air traffic in New England increased by 6.3 million passengers, with 76 percent of the increase at regional airports.

The air traffic report also predicts the number of passengers using the region's airport is likely to double by 2020. Bangor's growth is predicted to outpace Logan's. The coalition said instead of subsidizing points in Vermont and Maine such as such as Rutland and Bar Harbor, respectively, the government should encourage use of Burlington in Vermont and Bangor in Maine to get passengers to the national airspace system. The Daily News noted that Presque Isle, which is one of four airports in Maine to get $1 million in annual subsidies, averages 53 passengers a day who opt for Presque Isle rather than driving the 163 miles to Bangor.

The FAA's New England Regional Aviation System Plan forecast Bedford's Hanscom Field would reach 451,000 passengers by 2020, three times its 2000 rate, although locals are expected to oppose any expansion, according to reports in the Boston Globe. The field lost Shuttle America two years ago but retains service by Boston-Maine Airways Pan Am Clipper Connection to Elmira, N.Y. and Trenton, N.J. The airline, however, is struggling having launched in 2002 ambitious plans to serve Bangor, Nantucket, St. John, New Brunswick and White Plains, N.Y., and pulled out in 2003. It returned in 2004 to challenge Shuttle America on the Trenton route, the Globe reported. Boston-Maine also serves its base at Portsmouth, N.H. as well as Baltimore in the north and Atlanta-Tunica, Miss. gaming flights in the south.

New Haven's Tweed Airport, which offers seven US Airways Express flights to Philadelphia, could reach nearly one million passengers, 22 times that of just two years ago. Tweed lost Delta's (DALQ) service earlier this year. With no easy connection to Route 95, local officials doubt the forecast, largely owing to the need for a 400-foot runway extension that requires filling in marshlands and moving city streets, the publication reported.

All three airports need infrastructure upgrades but Worcester could theoretically support 1.5 million passengers and New Haven 2.3 million. The FAA report also points to the growing year-round residency on Cape Cod as an emerging market and estimates nearly two million passengers could use the airport annually.

Regional Aviation Partners

Regional Aviation Partners (RAP) has launched a survey of EAS points to gauge their reaction to program changes being proposed by DOT. The survey will be published in the October 11-17 issue of the organization's newsletter. For more information contact Todd Jorns - Legislative Director (602-685-4112) toddjorns@regionalaviationpartners.org or Deborah Shane - Assistant to Executive Director (602-685-4112) administrator@regionalaviationpartners.org.