As President Bush attempts to virtually eliminate the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, one Republican congressman wants to give turbojet operators the power to establish limited scheduled service between small communities.

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) earlier this month introduced legislation that would permit the operators of on-demand charter services to schedule up to five weekly round-trip flights between two or more destinations. While current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules permit the operators of turboprop charters to provide the service, Pearce's bill would extend this opportunity to those operators of turbojets, according to FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette.

"This is a way to bring service back to smaller communities. You can't do that now with a turbojet," she said. The legislation parallels some of the work the FAA is doing to update its rules, she added.

The legislation would keep the amended rules consistent with current Part 135 rules and limit the number of passengers on these planes to nine.

"This is an attempt to make the changes statutory," said Rhett Skiles, Pearce's senior legislative assistant, of the FAA's on-going re-write of Part 135 rules. "It does not seem to us to be a far reaching change from where the FAA is going with its re-write."

"The jet is the big difference," said Dan Kidder, spokesman for the National Air Transport Association (NATA). "It allows everyone who is doing it now, to continue to do it. It is not codified now, but this would codify the practice."

"The overall goal is to provide supplemental air service to the small communities that often lack scheduled air service," Skiles told Regional Aviation News. Citing Pearce's hometown of Hobbs as an example, Skiles said on the frequent Shell Oil charter flights from Houston to Hobbs, the empty seats cannot be sold. Under the bill, the charter plane could make its return trip to Houston with fare-paying Hobbs residents each Tuesday instead of returning empty to its base hangar. Likewise, on Thursday when the plane flies back to Hobbs to collect the Shell executives it could carry nine fare-paying passengers.

"Hobbs is a prime example of a very small community that would have service to a major market," Skiles said. In fact, he said, there are at least 10 other communities in Pearce's district that would benefit from the legislation. Pearce represents the southern half of the state.

"It may very well help a small number of communities who have no air service," said Maurice Parker, executive director of the Regional Aviation Partners (RAP), an industry group that lobbies for improved air service to rural communities. "It is not a long-term solution. Commercial air service is the long-term solution."

Most of the communities that will be assisted by the Pearce legislation do not have the loads to warrant commercial service. "We have communities in danger of losing EAS who fly 10,000 to 12,000 people a year. Some of these people are in danger of losing the service because of the president's budget," Parker told Regional Aviation News.

Permitting more passenger service by Part 135 on-demand operators, Parker said could put Part 121 carriers at a cost disadvantage in providing service to these small communities. "In 1997, the government told us that Part 135 is unsafe and changed the rules to Part 121. Now the FAA is asking many communities to forgo their right to safe air service. I thought safety was the key issue. They need to keep their eye on the ball.

"If safety is not the issue, then allow some of the existing carriers to have a little bit of flexibility. Allow them to determine if they can fly under Part 135 or Part 121," Parker said. Due to some of the requirements of Part 121 - two pilots, a larger plane and two engines - these carriers can not compete on costs to provide air service to smaller communities.

The Bush Budget

The Bush budget bill changes the aircraft service requirements for EAS flights. The budget language indicates that the aircraft could be "single engine, single-pilot operations, air taxi or charter service."

"If this language is enacted, the original EAS requirement for providing service with a twin-engine, pressurized, two-pilot aircraft is gone. No longer will DOT have to get your [the local community's] permission to waive the requirement. They can simply require it."

Furthermore, the budget contains "carte blanche" language permitting the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) greater discretion to choose between competing carriers for an EAS contract. Parker said the language is "open-ended" with no written rules to guide the decision-making process.

In the 2006 budget that Bush recently submitted to Congress, funding for EAS is only at the $50 million statutory requirement and the president killed the Small Community Air Service Program.

Now in its fourth year, DOT is soliciting applications for the Small Community Air Service program which offers matching grants to communities in an effort to attract new air service - most frequently regional carriers. DOT will divided $20 million between 40 cities (RAN, Jan. 24).

In the Bush proposal for EAS, Parker said not only will the dollar amount be cut by about $50 million but the communities will need to contribute as much as 50 percent of the subsidy payment. The size of the local contribution ranges from as low as 10 percent to 50 percent. Those communities that are 50 miles from a non-hub airport, or 75 miles from a medium hub airport, would no longer be eligible for EAS. Instead, these communities could received funds to subsidize ground transportation to the larger airport. The community would be required to pay half of the subsidy.

Ignoring language in the 2003 FAA reauthorization measure, the budget uses a new distance measurement when applying the distance test. A "highway mile" will now mean the shortest driving distance as determined by the FAA. The current law empowers the governor to determine the shortest, most commonly used routes.

RAP and the Regional Airline Association have beat back attempts to cut EAS in each of President Bush's previous budget proposals. However, this is the first time the Administration has targeted so many programs - 150 - for elimination.

>>U.S. Rep. Pearce's legislation is H.R. 488. Contacts: Rhett Skiles, Pearce's staff, (202) 225-2365, Alison Duquette, FAA, (202) 267-3883; Dan Kidder, NATA, (703) 845-9000; Maurice Parker, RAP, (602) 685-4112.<<