Federal money is essential to North Country airports; Trump wants to cut it in half

Yahoo

30-05-2025

If you live in the North Country, you know flights can be expensive. Air travel often involves hours of driving, expensive airport parking, and even pricier tickets.
But if you're looking to travel to a few cities around the eastern U.S. and your schedule is flexible, you might be able to find far cheaper tickets for direct flights from one of five North Country airports.
That's because of the Essential Air Service, a federally funded program aimed at providing affordable air travel to rural regions.
Now, President Donald Trump is proposing to cut EAS funding by $308 million or more than 50%, as outlined in the discretionary funding requests the White House published in early May, which argued, 'The EAS program funnels taxpayer dollars to airlines to subsidize half-empty flights from airports that are within easy commuting distance from each other, while also failing to effectively provide assistance to most rural air travelers.'
Empty seats and idle airports
There are five EAS airports in the North Country: Plattsburgh, Lake Clear, Massena, Ogdensburg, and Watertown.
In mid-May, a direct flight from Plattsburgh to Dulles near Washington DC. had just 12 passengers on the 30-seater plane operated by Contour Airlines. The round-trip flight cost $158.
The availability and affordability of direct flights from rural regions like the North Country to larger cities dates back to the 1970s when the federal government was deregulating the airline industry. Some lawmakers worried that rural populations would be left without any service at all.
So Congress created what would later become the Essential Air Service. The goal was to serve places like the North Country, where people regularly drive hours to larger hubs like Syracuse, Albany or Burlington.
'Anytime I travel, it saves me four hours, at least- two hours one direction, two hours another direction,' explained Andre Dauphin, who lives in Ausable and spends about 50% of his time traveling for work.
'Rather than doing the commute and the traveling and dropping off a car at a rental place, I don't have to do all that,' said Dauphin. 'It saves me a lot of time and money, and it saves my company a lot of time and money.'
Trump's budget says EAS spending is 'out of control'
When President Donald Trump proposed a 50% cut to EAS funding, some lawmakers including Senator Chuck Schumer raised the alarm.
'That would devastate North Country airports and hurt places or smaller airports- Watertown, Ogdensburg, Plattsburgh, Massena, Adirondack Regional airport,' said Schumer.
Those five North Country airports got more than $31 million in 2024, more than double what they received five years ago. EAS funding nationwide has more than doubled since then, as well. Trump's proposed budget points that out, saying 'spending on programs is out of control.'
Ray Mundy agrees. He's a retired college professor who taught about transportation issues and published a cost-benefit analysis of the Essential Air Service in 2015.
'Even though the intentions of the program were good, the politicians that arranged for them are good, the local people that want an airport are good, it's just a waste of money,' said Mundy.
The subsidized price per passenger
Last year, Plattsburgh got $6.8 million in EAS funding. According to federal data, it served about 93,000 passengers, equating to a $74 subsidy per person.
For even smaller North Country airports, the subsidy is much higher. About 6,100 people boarded flights out of Ogdensburg airport in 2024 and the airport received $8.8 million in EAS funding, resulting in an average subsidy of $1,400 per passenger.
Last fall, NCPR intern Zach Jaworski was one of just 13 passengers on an Airbus that can seat nearly 140. He spoke with flight attendant Li'i Issacs.
'The smallest flight that I've had was when we did this first trip two days ago. We only had two people on our plane,' said Issacs. 'I've never had a crew that outnumbered the passengers.'
Ticket sales have gone up from Ogdensburg in recent months, but flights are still only about 30% full. Airport manager Charlie Garrelts says despite that fact, he believes EAS airports are vital to the North Country's economy.
'Residents in rural areas, a lot of them are depending on air service to travel for specialized medical care or higher education opportunities.'
Garrelts says another big percentage of passengers are Canadian. While the Ottawa airport is just about an hour north, flights from Ogdensburg are cheap, and parking is free. Canadian travelers have their choice of airports near the border that are subsidized by American taxpayers, from Watertown, Ogdensburg, Massena, and Plattsburgh.
Burlington resident David Rovinsky was flying from DC back to Plattsburgh due to air traffic control issues in Newark upending his travel plans to fly to Burlington.
Rovinsky said it's difficult to weigh the costs and benefits of EAS funding, since some things are just hard to quantify.
'There's an element of public good here,' said Rovinsky. 'This is important to maintain communities and even if the airport doesn't completely pay for itself, it provides other social benefits that, in turn, justify making up that difference with government money.'
Just how much government money will keep flowing is now up to Congress.