"EAS subsidy still remains for three Wyoming airports"

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Extra subsidy still remains for three Wyoming airports
The Associated Press


CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Airports in Laramie, Rock Springs and Worland would
benefit from an amendment that restored a rural airport subsidy to a federal
transportation bill.

Last week, $63 million for the Essential Air Service program was stripped
from the 2004 Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill in a procedural
move.

Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., successfully offered an amendment that restored
the amount, raising total funding for the program to $113 million.

Congress created the program in 1978 to make sure that communities that were
receiving regularly scheduled air service before deregulation did not lose
all commercial flights.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress approved a $63 million
supplement to the base funding.

Chuck Howell, chief executive officer of Great Lakes Airlines, said the
industry assumed the funding would stay at the higher level.

''After 9/11, airports were getting drop notices from airlines who couldn't
afford to serve them anymore,'' Howell said.

Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., said she and other lawmakers from rural
districts crafted the last-minute agreement to keep funding at the higher
level.

''The EAS program is a promise made to states like Wyoming to support air
travel in the wake of airline deregulation,'' Cubin said in a statement.
''It's a promise Congress needs to keep. Air service between Wyoming's rural
communities is absolutely essential if we want economic development across
the state.''

The bill, passed 381-39 last Tuesday, moved to the Senate.


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