Proposed EAS cuts could hurt county
Under President Donald Trump’s budget blueprint announced two weeks ago, the White House has proposed eliminating funding for the Essential Air Service program which serves more than 170 rural communities nationwide, including Imperial County.
Despite the proposed cuts, the county and Mokulele Airlines which services the Valley, feel confident that at the end of the day, the county will be able to continue to maintain its air service.
Chairman of the Imperial County Board of Supervisors Michael Kelley said the county will continue to meet with the Airport Advisory Committee and discuss the issues as more details are revealed.
Although the budget blueprint is just a proposal, it offers a glimpse of the type of programs that the new administration has on the chopping block.
The Essential Air Service was created in 1978 after the Airline Deregulation Act was passed which gave carriers full control on determining the best markets to serve domestically, putting an end to mandates forcing carriers to serve smaller communities.
The goal of the program is to guarantee those small communities, which are located far away from medium and large airports, maintain a minimal level of service.
The main arguments the White House used to back up the cuts is the burden it has on taxpayers.
“EAS flights are not full and have high subsidy costs per passenger,” the budget proposal states. “Several EAS-eligible communities are relatively close to major airports, and communities that have EAS could be served by other existing modes of transportation.”
While it may be the case on a number of communities, it certainly doesn’t apply to most of the communities including Imperial County which meets the federal guidelines.
In the 10 months since Mokulele began to service the county it has flown more than 1,000 passengers with the average subsidy per passenger of $186, below the federal cap of $200.
The U.S. Department of Transportation chose Mokulele Airlines as the carrier for the Valley a year ago and currently has a two-year contract to serve the Valley. As part of the contract, Mokulele receives an annual $2.44 million subsidy from the Department of Transportation to offer daily flights to and from Los Angeles International Airport.
President of Mokulele Airlines Rob McKinney said that even though they’re concerned about the proposed cuts, he believes the federal government will rectify the matter before the budget is approved by congress later in the year.
Imperial County is one of two areas which Mokulele serves under the Essential Air Service, the other one being Kamuela, Hawaii. McKinney said the airline is in a good position even if the cuts proposed under the budget become a reality since the money they get from EAS makes up only 2 percent of their revenue.
“This could do a big damage to rural communities,” McKinney said. “We’re hopeful the federal government will take a step back and look at the whole picture and recognize the value of the program.”
Kelley said the county is monitoring any new developments that may come when a more detailed version of the budget is made public in May, for now, the plan is to continue to meet with the Airport Advisory Committee as they do every month. McKinney said Mokulele’s service in the Valley has been very good and said if the EAS does get gutted completely, there will be enough time for the company to meet with local officials to seek possible solutions to remain operating locally.
“That would definitely be our goal,” he said. “We will probably have meetings with the local community and explore the possibility of partnerships with local businesses and consider other options available to keep servicing Imperial County.”
Likewise, Kelley said the county will reach out to the cities of Imperial and El Centro as well as the Southern California Association of Governments among others to ensure the community keeps its access to air service.
“I can assure you we as the Board of Supervisors will work to make sure that we maintain air service in Imperial County,” Kelley said. “We’re waiting to see what this (federal) administration does but we’re ready to take the bite.”