Essential Air Service

In 2022, the town of nearly 34,500 was one of many small communities that felt the effects of pilot supply woes at regional airlines.

Breeze is the latest carrier to join the Department of Transportation’s Essential Air Service (EAS) program with a route to two new airports.

JetBlue began its first flight to an Essential Air Service community, and the celebrations were plentiful at both ends of the route.

After less than two years of serving the community, Sun Country will lose its only Essential Air Service (EAS) contract in Eau Claire, Wis.

JetBlue will receive over $10 million a year from the federal government to operate its newest route which launched this week.

With a new EAS contract, Denver Air Connection will be expanding to the busiest airport in the world, and home of its newest interline partner.

The 50-seat CRJ-200, one of the most unanimously hated aircraft in the skies today, is still flying within the Delta network after its late 2023 retirement.

Since its 1978 inception, the U.S. Essential Air Service (EAS) program has been vital in connecting small communities to the broader air transportation network.

It is very rare to get so many proposals for a single EAS contract. This is likely the first time a community has seen six, giving them many options.

United is pushing back on the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s pick to serve Presque Isle, calling the decision “erroneous.”