Federal officials has announced that financial support from a federal initiative that supports airline routes to remote airfields are set to expire as early as this weekend due to the ongoing government shutdown.
The US transportation department indicated that financial assistance under the Essential Air Service initiative are expected to expire as early as this weekend after the department moved unrelated funding from the Federal Aviation Administration as an temporary measure.
The department is in the process of alerting carriers about the financial gap and alerting communities about potential effects.
Federal authorities allocates approximately $350m in annual funding for the program.
In recent months, the White House proposed cutting funding by $308m for the air service program, which has support among GOP legislators because it offers connectivity to predominantly Republican rural regions.
Throughout the initial term of Donald Trump, the administration suggested terminating the Essential Air Service initiative – but lawmakers opted to increase financial support instead.
This initiative typically subsidizes two round trips each day using medium-sized planes – or additional frequencies with smaller planes. Officials report that under the program, approximately 65 communities in Alaska have air access and 112 communities across the other 49 states and Puerto Rico that likely wouldn't have any commercial air connectivity.
“Every state nationwide will be impacted,” the transportation secretary stated during a press conference, observing the program had support from both parties. “We don't have the funding for that initiative moving forward.”
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