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Those of us who grew up in small towns and live in sparsely populated states understand that not only do airports bring economic development but they make life much more pleasant when we want to travel.
Making sure small communities are able to have an airport that is capable of serving commercial airlines requires constant work in Congress because of the economies of scale. Small airports need some help from the federal government to make it economically feasible for airlines to serve their relatively small customer base.
As I have said before, when it comes to rural living Washington just doesn't get it, so help for small airports is often targeted by federal bureaucrats who want to cut their funding. They don't understand the importance of small airports to the economic well being of the area and that rural taxpayers deserve equal treatment with those in large urban areas.
I am co-sponsoring legislation designed to protect and strengthen a program of vital importance to Nebraska's rural airports called S. 1571, the Rural Aviation Improvement Act.
For the past several years, the Department of Transportation has attempted to change the assistance rural airports receive from the federal government. In most cases, this has amounted to an attempt to limit or eliminate funding.
The Rural Aviation Improvement Act would remedy the situation by instituting a number of changes that would strengthen programs targeted to rural airports. Those changes include:
- Repealing a provision put in place by the 2002 FAA Reauthorization requiring a community to pay a portion of the cost (up to 20%) to keep its limited commercial air service. Thus far, it has been blocked by Congress, but a permanent repeal is needed to protect rural airports.
- Providing a stable source of funding for the Essential Air Service Program.
- Reauthorizing the Small Community Air Service Development Program. This is a competitive grant program aimed at financing community-driven initiatives to improve our service in rural areas of the country.
S. 1571 also includes a provision that mirrors legislation I introduced earlier this year. The Mapping Airport Proximity, or MAP Act, requires the Department of Transportation to use the most commonly traveled route - as opposed to the closest - when determining a rural airport's distance from a hub airport.
This puts some common sense back into the equation and eliminates situations like the one that exists for Scottsbluff's airport, where the route approved by the Transportation Department is one that few people travel and would actually take an hour longer to get travelers to Denver International Airport and yet is critical in determining whether airports qualify for federal Essential Air Service subsidies.
Washington bureaucrats need to recognize that small, rural airports are absolutely critical to the success of rural communities. I will continue to push for measures that make sense for our rural areas.
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