Your tax dollars pay for people to fly on these small, weird planes – Jalopnik

It is time to add another item to the list of things that you have probably never heard of, but still pay with your tax dollars – the essential air service. This program has been around for almost 50 years and is intended to ensure that small communities are not omitted in terms of commercial air travel.

Once the government had much more control over the aviation market, so that it could create legislation with regard to things such as routes and prices. Subsequently, the Deregulation Act of the airline was adopted in 1978, which removed it. Airlines are a commercial enterprise – so once they were not obliged to the FBI, they started to determine routes by calculating the demand and the profit potential. However, that often meant that cutting smaller, insulated communities from the comparison, because flying to these areas was not considered profitable. The Essential Air Service Program was assumed to encourage flights to smaller locations by offering government subsidies.

Airlines offer on these subsidized routes to get contracts that last between two and four years. For the airlines it is a accurate source of income and the program is a blessing for the 65 Alaska communities and the 112 communities in the lower 48 states that it serves. However, because there are not always many passengers travel on these routes, the airlines often use small aircraft with 30 to 50 seats, and some of these planes even use propellers. Although most diseases still rely on propellers for various reasons, including their efficiency at lower heights, it is relatively unusual that this type of aircraft is used for commercial travel.

According to Vs todayIn 2021, the Ministry of Transport (DOT) handed out around $ 340 million in subsidies for the Essential Air Service. However, the amount of the dollars has grown since then – the proposed essential reduction of 52% of Donald Trump would lead to around $ 308 million being removed from the program budget.

Should the program continue? The answer depends on who you ask, because many isolated communities claim that it helps enormously in keeping them with services, goods and tourists. For example, some villages in Alaska have no connection roads. Michele Greenamyre, the interim city manager for McGrath, Alaska, spoke with the Alaska -BakenIn which it is explained: “For medical reasons I could not travel to Anchorage without EAS. The return flight would be too much.” Other communities, such as Page, Arizona, are also grateful for the program. Page is more than four hours away from the nearest major metropolitan areas by car, and some residents claim that these subsidized flights run the local tourist economy.

However, others claim that the program is not necessary and that the use of funds is inefficient, because the taxpayers pay the bill for around $ 100 per passenger. In some cases, opponents claim that these same passengers can drive to other airports, because these subsidized flights are not their only options. Moreover, charter activities between small airports make steps towards more affordable journeys, which means that private flights can become just as cheap as commercial airlines. The Essential Air Service Program was originally intended to expire in 1988. However, it continues to live on in his fourth decade, and some people are not happy with its continuous use.