Typically travelers interested in taking advantages of the lowest priced cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages have to fly out of a major airport. Airfares out of rural airports tend to be priced higher.
With legislation pending in Congress, rural airfares may rise substantially, with many rural airports closing down all together. Senator John McCain has proposed an amendment to an aviation bill that would eliminate the $200 million annual essential air service program. This program pays airlines to provide scheduled service to 150 rural communities.
Subsidies per airline passenger topped out at $5,223 in Ely, Nevada and were as little as $9 in Thief River Falls, Minnesota as of June 1, 2010.
The reason this program was put in place was to make certain that less profitable routes to small airports would not be discontinued once airline service was deregulated in 1978. Critics claim rural airports often fly too few passengers to deserve subsidies. They also believe that there are reasonable transportation alternatives, including other airports, trains and bus service, within a realistic distance of some of the airports now benefiting from subsidies.
Studies have shown that in many of communities, travelers choose to drive to larger airports that are not receiving subsidies in order to get better service (i.e. direct flights) at lower prices than are available at their nearby local airport.
Supporters of the airline subsidy program claim that the air service offered out of small airports is important to the communities ability to attract investments and jobs.
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