Essential Air Service Program Could Bring Traffic To Midamerica Airport
See Followup: Durbin Says Story Misstates His Stance
BELLEVILLE, IL (June 18, 2001) -- Is paying airlines to serve MidAmerica St. Louis Airport the way to convince airlines to operate there, and a way to reduce delays at large airports like Lambert-St. Louis International?
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said it could be the solution. He said the federal government should consider paying airlines to serve airports like MidAmerica, just as it pays airlines to serve airports in places like Marion through the essential air service program.
In the essential air service program, the federal government gives money to airlines to serve small communities that might not otherwise get commercial air service. With larger airports like Lambert bogged down by delays, Durbin said he thinks extending the air services program to regional airports like MidAmerica could help create more airport capacity.
"I will consider proposals to expand the program to other under-served communities," he said, adding that he will work to improve the essential air service program.
Airlines participating in the essential air services program enter into two-year contracts with the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide the service. The transportation department imposes requirements on the number of seats that must be offered, the number of flights that need to be offered, and where the flights need to go. The program does not guarantee service will be maintained. If passenger interest is insufficient, service can be taken away.
Currently, the only Illinois airport that is benefiting from the essential air service program is in Marion. Trans World Airlines commuter flights to St. Louis are being subsidized at a rate of $794,031 a year. The flights are offered on 19-seat aircraft.
Commuter flights from airports in three Missouri cities -- Cape Girardeau, Fort Leonard Wood and Kirksville -- to St. Louis are subsidized, too. About 78 communities in the contiguous United States and Hawaii are receiving subsidized air service through the program.
Changes in the program will have to be approved by Congress in order for airports like MidAmerica to receive subsidized service. For instance, any airport that wishes to receive funds through the program needs to be 70 miles from a major airport, and MidAmerica is less than 70 miles from Lambert.
Floyd "Rick" Hargrove, the MidAmerica director, said he would not want the federal government paying airlines to serve the airport. He said he would prefer to attract airlines there through advertising efforts.
"I'm not a big advocate of [subsidized service]," he said. "I would prefer to do it some other way."
MidAmerica opened in 1997, but did not see any passenger service until last August, when Pan Am began flying to regional airports near Chicago and Orlando.
Critics of MidAmerica charge the airport, which cost hundreds of millions to build, is a monument to government waste. Supporters of the airport say it is a key part of a brighter economic future for the metro-east, and can effectively complement Lambert.
David NewMyer, the chair of the aviation management and flight department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, said any changes to the air service program to accommodate MidAmerica would contradict the program's intent, to ensure small communities have air service.
NewMyer also said such changes would be a slap in the face to communities like Carbondale, Mount Vernon and Danville, which had service under the essential air service program, but lost it because of a lack of interest.
"It gets away from what essential air service has been defined as," he said.
He also said changes to the air service program to benefit airports like MidAmerica would be a difficult sell in Congress, because not every part of the country has those kind of airports or airport capacity problems, and therefore would not benefit.
Representatives for U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald and U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello said both men could not comment until they saw specific legislative proposals from Durbin. U.S. Rep. John Shimkus could not be reached.
According to Brad Van Dam, the director of legislative affairs for the American Association of Airport Executives and Airports Council International of North America, many airports are jammed, and congestion and delays will only get worse. He said one of every four flights last year was delayed, diverted or canceled, and that the number of flying passengers is expected to reach 1 billion by the end of this decade.
NewMyer said short-term financial incentives for airlines to serve regional airports could prove attractive for airlines, and could buy the industry some time to expand airports to keep up with increasing demand.
Van Dam also noted a similar bill to the Essential Air Services Act, which would make more airports eligible for grants to lure airlines, was approved by a U.S. House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee last week.
The bill would make $27.5 million available to airports, not airlines, and airports that are not eligible for subsidized service could be eligible for this program.
Hargrove is aware of the proposal, and said it appeals to him much more so than the service subsidy.
"Once that passes, we will want to try and become a part of that," he said.
But Darryl Jenkins, an airline industry analyst at George Washington University, said the only solution to airport capacity problems is to build new runways and expand airport facilities.
Jenkins said airlines would need larger subsidies than the government would want to provide in order to jump to regional airports, where airlines will operate only if the market demands it. He also said Durbin's idea won't solve the problem, which Congress has ignored for too long.
"There is no quick fix to the problem," he said. "We have known it was coming for years. When we could have done something, nothing was done.
"Now, these guys [Congress], having caused the problem, are giving us solutions that aren't any better than when they were ignoring the problem."
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
David Van Den Berg Article © Belleville News-Democrat
Durbin Says Story Misstated His Stance
Senator Points Out Inaccuracy
BELLEVILLE, IL (June 19, 2001) -- U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Monday that he does not support extending funding through the federal Essential Air Service program to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, contrary to a story on Page 1A on Monday.
Durbin responded to the story in a letter, which read:
"I have supported the Essential Air Service program, but I have also supported reform of the program over the years. It has helped many Illinois communities provide critical air service; however, it must be used with discretion.
"To my knowledge, MidAmerica Airport has not expressed an interest in participating in the Essential Air Service program, and your article was inaccurate when it suggested that I support MidAmericas participation in the program."
The essential air service program is a federal program that provides subsidies to airlines to serve airports in small communities that might not see commercial air service otherwise.
Currently, the only airport in Illinois receiving subsidized service is the airport in Marion. Trans World Airlines commuter flights to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport from Marion are subsidized.
Durbin was asked last Thursday about the essential air service program, and the possibility of extending it to secondary, regional airports such as MidAmerica.
In his written response, provided by aides, Durbin said he supports the air service program and will work to improve it, but did not specifically mention an airport that he thinks should receive subsidized air service.
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
David Van Den Berg Article © Belleville News-Democrat
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