Larger aircraft continue to make their way into the EAS program, but is that a win for communities?
A Sun Country Boeing 737-800 (Photo: Natmac Stock | Shutterstock)
Since its 1978 inception, the U.S. Essential Air Service (EAS) program has been vital in connecting small — often rural — communities to the broader air transportation network. The taxpayer-funded program is designed to subsidize routes between these small communities and major hubs that would otherwise not be commercially viable for airlines to serve.
The overwhelming majority of these routes are operated by regional jets, including the less-than-desirable 50-seat CRJ-200 and Embraer E145s. The program isn’t supposed to be pretty; it is intended to serve a critical purpose.
A more recent trend has emerged as airlines recovered from the pandemic. Non-regional airlines flying larger aircraft are applying for — and winning — contracts in the lower 48, something virtually unheard of just a few years ago.
It all began in 2022 when Sun Country, an all-Boeing 737 operator, applied to serve Eau Claire, Wis. under a $6.5 million subsidy. The airline won the contract, which was its first-ever EAS-subsidized route, and it was also one of the largest aircraft types to operate within the program.
Later, JetBlue jumped on the bandwagon, applying to serve Presque Isle, Maine. This is especially notable because Presque Isle is one of the most high-value contracts in the lower 48. JetBlue, like Sun Country, won the $10.5 million contract.
And then there’s Breeze, which applied to serve Ogdensburg, N.Y. The airline has yet to win the contract and is competing against Contour and Boutique Air.
The common theme in all of these bids is less frequency and access to fewer connecting flights. Sun Country does serve its Minneapolis hub with three-weekly round-trip flights along with seasonal service to Orlando, Fort Myers, and Las Vegas. JetBlue will serve Presque Isle with daily flights to Boston. Breeze wants to serve Ogdensburg with daily flights to Washington Dulles where it currently has no codeshare agreements in place.
In a non-subsidized world, none of these routes make sense. But if you’re one of these airlines, it is straightforward and almost guaranteed revenue.
It’s far from a secret that unit costs have risen tremendously post-COVID with revenues generally not keeping up. From an asset utilization perspective, flying a medium-sized aircraft on a short turn between Minneapolis and Eau Claire, for example, is low-hanging fruit for nearly $7 million per year.
Larger aircraft boost enplanement numbers for airports, which of course looks good on paper. Enplanements in Eau Claire were up 48% year-over-year, the airport said.
Again using Eau Claire as an example, the airport previously had up to two daily flights to Chicago O’Hare on United Express. Now, that frequency has dropped to less than once per day on Sun Country.
In Presque Isle, a similar trend presents itself. The airport currently has two daily United Express flights to Newark. When JetBlue starts, that frequency will drop to once per day to Boston.
While these larger aircraft certainly produce more appealing passenger numbers, they limit options in markets that already see extremely limited air service. Often, these emerging flights go to cities with fewer options for onward connecting flights.
The Essential Air Service program wasn’t built to fund vacations to Fort Myers or Las Vegas. Instead, it should be subsidizing air service to communities that otherwise would see no airlines in an economical and efficient manner. Most of the time, this means small regional jets that feed connections at large hub airports, not leisure routes.
 (imgl9125).jpg)
Receive a daily dose of the airline industry's top stories along with market insights right in your inbox.
Once dubbed as the Texas boomtown, Austin has lost some of its momentum in recent years, driven primarily by softening…
This past week we saw Vistara, the beloved Indian airline, be officially consumed by Air India. The move, while expected,…
Donald Trump is no stranger to the airline business, having touched several facets of the industry during his career. His…
