U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) recently spoke to the House of Representatives against a proposal to eliminate federal funding for rural air service, after which the amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2018 that would have ended the program failed by a vote of 293 to 113.
Three airports in Thompson’s district – Bradford Regional Airport, DuBois Regional Airport, and Venango Regional Airport – participate in the Essential Air Service (EAS) Program.
Opponents of EAS fail to recognize the program has been streamlined and modernized, Thompson said.
EAS connects rural America to the national air transportation system. These are areas that have long received the scraps of our suburban and urban counterparts, Thompson said.
For example, the Airport Improvement Program issued more than $264 million in grants last year to 95 airports in 31 states. This included $2 million to Sacramento International Airport for the purchase of five zero-emission electric shuttle buses.
“Mr. Speaker, these types of projects are nice, but the fact is that $2 million is about equal to the amount a small rural airport requires for commercial service for two years,” Thompson said.
Thompson voted in favor of the FAA reauthorization, which advanced the House 393 to 13.