Many U.P. Airports Could Be Grounded If EAS Funding Is Cut

Air travel in the Upper Peninsula could be in jeopardy if President Trump’s budget proposal is approved by Congress.

“To not have a commercial airline in your community, your economic development and the growth in your community depends on this airline being here,” said Kelly Smith, manager of the Delta County Airport.

The Upper Peninsula doesn’t have a major airport hub like Detroit or Minneapolis.  Many airports depend on Essential Air Service, or EAS, to fly people to bigger airports.

The Houghton County Memorial Airport receives more the $1.6 million in federal subsidies.

(https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/Subsidized%20EAS%20report%20for%20non-Alaska%20communities-Feb_1_2017.pdf)

President Trump’s proposed budget calls for an elimination in EAS funding across the nation, cutting $175 million altogether.

Kingsford’s Ford Airport manager Tim Howen says losing that funding would be devastating.

“What would happen over time, if we didn’t have the air carrier, our runway, which is up for repaving this year, but stuff like that would deteriorate,” he said.

Howen says 98% of people who fly out of Dickinson County do so because of the EAS program.

If that’s eliminated, the future of many small rural airports, including many of those in the U.P. could be at stake.

The original story and video by ABC-10’s Jerry Taylor can be viewed here.