Government Announces Subsidies for Rural Airline Service to Expire as Soon as Sunday

The Trump administration has announced that financial support from a US government program that supports airline routes to rural airports are set to expire as soon as Sunday due to the ongoing government shutdown.

The US transportation department indicated that financial assistance under the Essential Air Service program are likely to end as early as this weekend after the agency moved separate financial resources from the FAA as an temporary measure.

Transportation officials is currently notifying carriers about the financial gap and informing local areas about potential effects.

The government provides approximately $350m in yearly financial support for the program.

Earlier this year, the White House suggested reducing financial support by $308m for the Essential Air Service, which has support among Republican lawmakers because it offers connectivity to predominantly Republican rural regions.

Throughout the first presidency of Donald Trump, the White House proposed eliminating the Essential Air Service initiative – but Congress opted to increase funding instead.

The program typically supports two return flights each day using 30- to 50-seat aircraft – or more frequent flights with smaller planes. According to the department that under the program, approximately 65 areas in Alaska have air access and 112 locations across the other 49 states and the territory that likely wouldn't have any airline service.

“Every state nationwide will be impacted,” the transportation chief commented during a press conference, observing the service had bipartisan support. “We don't have the funding for that program moving forward.”