Supporting Middle America's Airports Act
This bill modifies the eligibility requirements for the Essential Air Service (EAS) program to allow additional communities to apply for assistance. The EAS program was established to ensure that small communities that were served by certificated air carriers before the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 would continue to receive scheduled passenger service.
Under current law, new communities have generally not been permitted to enter the program since October 1 2012, unless they are located in Alaska or Hawaii. The bill removes this restriction and allows DOT to accept new applications for a three-year period. After the three-year period, DOT may only compensate an air carrier for the provision of essential air service to a place if the place previously received essential air service under the program.