U.S. Essential Air Service

While the aviation industry is on the rise from the pandemic, pilot shortages are now facing carriers in full stride. But one area is being hit the most: small communities. Back at the beginning of January 2022, United exited 11 small cities all of which were served by small 50-seat regional aircraft, either the Embraer […]

Ogdensburg and Plattsburgh, two Essential Air Service communities located in northern New York State have been in aviation news a lot recently. It started back in January 2022 when SkyWest, the carrier that holds the current Essential Air Service Contract in the communities, requested to terminate the EAS contract in both cities. That was swiftly […]

Every AvGeek strives for unique and out-of-the-way experiences. In the United States, these AvGeek trips consist of flights such as Alaska’s Milk Run along the Alaskan panhandle, United Airlines’ Micronesian Island Hopper from Honolulu to Guam, and others. But perhaps the one most accessible to those on the mainland U.S. is located in the middle […]

Essential Air Service (EAS) is a group of government-funded airports around the country that airlines bid for and then are respectively won. Contracts are by law required to be followed out until completion unless they want to face heavy fines under federal law. In mid-January 2022, SkyWest announced its intentions to terminate service to two […]

If you have read my articles in the past, you know I love out-of-the-way airports, airlines, and aircraft. This will be the second trip report in my “Unique Connection Series”, the first of which can be found here. Overview For this Unique Connection, I will be starting in Chicago and flying to Denver using a […]

Note from the writer: In the commercial aviation world, there is always news to report, and even the smallest airports have news to report on. This will be a different segment than the “EAS Round-Up” stories, which focus only on the Essential Air Service contracts that have been changed or renewed. This new segment will […]

United — through its regional carrier United Express — ended service to 11 small cities around the country, not more than two weeks ago. Unfortunately, in the next 90-days, they will be adding two more destinations to that list both of which are located in northern New York State. St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Airlines operates […]

Despite knowing a lot about the Essential Air Service, or EAS, program and what goes on in it there are still some things that slip past and go unnoticed. Southern Airways Express won the contract for the community of Chadron, Neb., (CDR) to operate daily flights to Denver on the King Air 200 and has […]

Over the course of an airline’s lifetime, there are natural lulls and peaks, new destinations are added while other destinations are discontinued and this is just normal for any and all airlines around the globe, but this carrier has had nothing but a decline in recent years. Air Choice One wasn’t by any means a […]

Essential Air Service (EAS) has been in the news frequently the past couple of months, and large airports aren’t the only airports that have news to report on. This is a continuation of the series, titled ‘EAS Round up’, and will touch on any news regarding the contracts in the EAS airport community since the […]