JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
There are small airports across rural America that get big subsidies from the federal government. Now President Trump wants to cut that funding in half. North Country Public Radio's Emily Russell reports on the costs and benefits of rural air service.
EMILY RUSSELL, BYLINE: I live in a small mountain town in northern New York. You'd think it'd be complicated and expensive to fly to bigger cities like Boston or D.C., but there are four airports all within about 90 miles of me. They offer cheap flights to a few larger hubs.
UNIDENTIFIED AIRLINE EMPLOYEE #1: Hi there.
RUSSELL: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED AIRLINE EMPLOYEE #1: Welcome aboard.
RUSSELL: Thank you.
I flew to Washington, D.C. this spring. Round-trip cost was $158.
UNIDENTIFIED AIRLINE EMPLOYEE #2: On behalf of Contour Airlines, welcome aboard flight 3903 service to Washington Dulles.
RUSSELL: The fact that this flight exists, and at this price point, dates back to the 1970s. The government was deregulating the airline industry, and some lawmakers worried that people in rural America would be left behind. So Congress created the Essential Air Service, known as EAS. The money subsidizes airlines to fly out of underserved and far-flung airports, like the one in Plattsburgh. Andre Dauphin lives nearby and flies out of here for work all the time.
ANDRE DAUPHIN: It saves me a lot of time and money, and it saves my company a lot of time and money.
RUSSELL: There are about 180 airports across the U.S. that benefit from EAS funding. According to federal data, the second most heavily subsidized one is in the small city of Ogdensburg, New York. Last year, it got $8.8 million. Airport manager Charles Garrelts says that money is essential.
CHARLES GARRELTS: Residents in rural areas are depending on air service to travel for specialized medical care or higher education opportunities.
RUSSELL: But daily flights to D.C. are on average just 30% full. Flight attendant Li'i Issacs said last fall, planes were even emptier when they began flying the route.
LI’I ISSACS: The smallest flight that I've had was two days ago. We only had two people on our plane.
RUSSELL: Two people on a plane that seats nearly 140. President Trump's proposed budget points this out - that taxpayers end up subsidizing flights that are often far from full. Trump wants to cut funding in half, which could mean airlines would no longer serve some of these airports. Ray Mundy agrees with the proposed cut. He's taught college classes on transportation for decades. He also published a cost-benefit analysis of the Essential Air Service.
RAY MUNDY: Even though intentions of the program were good, the local people that want an airport are good, it's just a waste of money.
RUSSELL: Funding for the EAS has more than doubled in the last five years, but scaling it back faces real opposition from rural lawmakers, including Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. She's a staunch Trump ally but also represents a district in northern New York with five EAS airports.
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ELISE STEFANIK: We strongly support the president's focus on being fiscally responsible, but what I've been able to do is to work with the president to make sure that we need those dollars for rural airports. And just look at the past decade.
RUSSELL: Stefanik has helped secure more than $175 million for rural airports in her district in the last decade.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Nonstop service to Plattsburgh.
RUSSELL: Waiting to board my flight from D.C. back to Plattsburgh, I meet David Rovinsky. He's heading home with his wife. Rovinsky says it's difficult to weigh the costs and benefits of EAS funding, since some things are just worth it.
DAVID ROVINSKY: There's an element of public good here. 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.
RUSSELL: But just how much government money will keep flowing to rural airports is now up to Congress. For NPR News, I'm Emily Russell in Plattsburgh, New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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