FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 5, 2001

SCHUMER: ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE PROGRAM
IS SAFE BUT USDOT NEEDS TO DO MORE TO ENHANCE SERVICE TO SMALL COMMUNITIES

Senator successfully fought US Department of Transportation plan to cut
Essential Air Service funds for Watertown and Oneida Airports

In letter, Schumer says that with onset of recession, Federal Government must
focus on policies geared toward helping underserved areas improve air service

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today asked the Department of Transportation (DOT) to abandon its plan to cut the Essential Air Service (EAS) program now that the Congress has formally rejected the proposal and to turn its attention to improving air service to underserved communities that are most likely to feel the sting of service cuts in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In August, DOT outlined a plan to cut 18 of the 83 airports – including Watertown Airport and Oneida County Airport – from the EAS program. With its passage yesterday of the FY02 Transportation Appropriations bill, the Senate rejected that proposal and voted to maintain assistance for all of the underserved communities. Schumer had opposed the DOT plan when it was unveiled last summer and lobbied his colleagues in the Senate to support the EAS program.

In a letter to DOT Secretary Norman Mineta, Schumer wrote that with the nation's airline infrastructure in trouble in the wake of the terrorist attacks, the federal government needed to develop long-term strategies not just geared toward protecting service to major destinations but also to historically underserved regions like the ones in Upstate New York.

"One of the main factors behind Congress' decision to maintain the EAS program was the importance of air service to local economies. With the events of September 11 and the onset of the first recession in a decade, maintaining a strong air travel infrastructure has never been more important. It is crucial that DOT pursue policies that encourage viable air service to all communities, especially underserved ones," Schumer wrote.

The EAS program – which provides subsidies to air carriers to offer service at small airports – was created as a safety net to shield small cities from the affects of airline deregulation. The entire nation is allocated $63 million for the EAS program spread out over 83 airports. The criteria to determine eligibility to the program have been in place for 20 years and have helped small airports around the country remain competitive in an era of mergers and industry consolidation.

Under DOT's previous proposal, approximately 25 percent of eligible EAS airports would have lost their EAS subsidies funding and may have been forced to close. Schumer said that while the subsidies do not enable the airports to provide ideal levels of service to their surrounding areas, without them these regions would likely have no air service at all. If the DOT plan had been implemented, Watertown and Utica would have lost their local air service completely.

Watertown Airport currently shares an EAS subsidy with Ogdensburg and Massena to provide daily multi-stop flights from Northern New York to Pittsburgh. Oneida County Airport carrier was recently granted an EAS subsidy for carrier CommutAir to initiate flights to and from John F. Kennedy Airport. While both airports are working hard to attract new carriers and eliminate the need for the subsidy, the funding is critical to their ability to preserve current levels of service.

"The importance of our nation's air travel infrastructure was confirmed in the weeks following September 11th when Congress and the Administration enacted a $15 billion relief package for the nation's largest airlines serving major destinations. The air service needs of the country's smaller communities are no less important and we must not forget them," Schumer wrote.

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