Subsidy Changes Would Jeopardize FD Flights

Regional Aviation News
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Subsidy Changes Would Jeopardize FD Flights

June 10, 2003

By BILL SHEA

Northwest Airlink flights to Fort Dodge Regional Airport could ultimately be threatened by proposed changes to a federal subsidy program that would force the city to foot some of the bill.

Changes to the Essential Air Service program now being considered by Congress could require the cash-strapped city government to pay up to $100,000 a year to keep the flights going, according to Rhonda Chambers, the airport’s director of aviation.
She told the airport commission Monday evening that the proposal would eliminate commercial air service to Fort Dodge. ‘‘In my opinion, it’s an attack on rural America,’’ she said.

Fort Dodge deserves a chance to use a federal program that was designed to help smaller communities, Chambers said.
The Essential Air Service program was established in 1978, but Fort Dodge didn’t need it until 2001.

She said congressional staffers told her early this year that the Essential Air Service program wouldn’t be changed.

A group of Fort Dodge leaders who traveled to Washington, D.C., on a lobbying trip in April were told by congressional staffers that the program would not be eliminated. But Richard Bender, an aide to U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, cautioned that the program is ‘‘under some level of attack’’ because its spending went up so much since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

While in Washington, the local delegation also learned that President George W. Bush had proposed a local match of between 10 and 25 percent for the flight subsidies.

The Essential Air Service program provides money to ensure that smaller airports continue to get airline service. Mesaba Aviation, which operates the Northwest Airlink flights, receives money through it. That airline first applied for the money in late 2001 as it tried to cope with increased costs and the drop in air travel following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The proposals pending in Congress would require communities that are within a specified distance of an airline hub to produce a local match for the subsidy.

Under an amendment to the Senate version of the bill, communities within 100 miles of a small hub airport would have to provide a 10 percent match for the subsidy. The federal government lists Fort Dodge as being 94 miles from Des Moines, meaning the city would have to come up with a match.

The airline gets about $1 million from the federal government, so the city would have to provide $100,000 if the change becomes law.
‘‘That 10 percent would not be possible through our city government,’’ said Dr. Richard Jacobson, chairman of the airport commission.

Under the House version of the bill, communities that are less than 75 miles from a small hub or less than 170 miles from a medium or large hub would have to provide a match. The second part of that proposal would impact Fort Dodge because the city is162 miles from Omaha, Neb.

The House bill would require a 2.5 percent local match in 2005, a 5 percent local match in 2006, a 7.5 percent match in 2007 and a 10 percent match in 2008.

Chambers said she will be talking to members of Iowa’s congressional delegation, urging them to stop any changes to the Essential Air Service program. She urged airport commission members and the public to join her in the lobbying effort.

Source: The Messenger, Fort Dodge, IA

Tuesday, June 9, 2003