Is Essential Air Service Really Essential?

I don't think it is anymore. It probably hurts the development of high speed rail between some cities and leads to over crowded hub airports. if the market cannot support the cost of a ticket from some of these places then air service should die, it should not be supported by the rest of us.
 
That may be true in some areas, but I'll bet the route from KGGW-KOLF-KBIL will likely never be the home of a high-speed rail link, nor is the KBIL "hub" overcrowded.
 
Seems to me there's a good market for operating a bunch of Navajos and 402s over those routes instead of 1900s and Dash 8s. At the very least it would decrease the costs significantly.
 
smigaldi said:
I don't think it is anymore. It probably hurts the development of high speed rail between some cities and leads to over crowded hub airports. if the market cannot support the cost of a ticket from some of these places then air service should die, it should not be supported by the rest of us.
Click to expand...

Will you be saying the same thing about rail service? They are supported by the rest of us also because the ticket revenue doesn't cover the cost either.
 
article said:
President Bush tried to trim $50 million from the program by eliminating subsidies to cities within 90 miles of an airport, but Congress refused under pressure from affected communities
Click to expand...
I'll have to say this was basically a good idea but I would make it 90 minutes instead of miles to account for some of the driving conditions in different parts of the country (it takes a lot longer to drive 90 miles in New England than it does in Montana). Another question, did places like Visalia, CA have airline service before deregulation?
 
I think that it is justified for some locations but not for many others that have it. A lot of these places aren't as remote as they used to be, if they ever were. Interstates and continued 4 lane hiway construction have cut the driving time from many of these locations to the nearest airport with non-subsidized service.
 
Are GA airports really essential? That logic can be used for a lot of things. Is an Interstate Highway across some of our western states where there is nothing for miles really essential. Is the hub and spoke airline routing system essential? It goes on and on. Sometimes the big picture needs to be looked at. The media is just trying to stir up trouble.
 
We recently got Cape Air into LNS under this grant. We do not have interstate or major highway accesss directly to either PHL or BWI, the two closest Bravos. We DO have highway access to MDT, but that's another small airport that has to take you to a hub somewhere and dump you off.

The access to BWI is convenient, a money saver for the business travellers (like my wife) who are using it. It brings in bidders to the Auto Auction in Manheim. While it is not yet self supporting, that IS the goal and the airport is making noise about hoping to get there. Ticket sales are steadily increasing.

Whether it's truly "essential" to Lancaster is an open question. We certainly weren't failing to grow as an area without it. But we definitely don't have handy access to a hub airport via highway. And rail service to Philadelphia is both costly and inconvenient.

Jim G
 
grattonja said:
We recently got Cape Air into LNS under this grant. We do not have interstate or major highway accesss directly to either PHL or BWI, the two closest Bravos. We DO have highway access to MDT, but that's another small airport that has to take you to a hub somewhere and dump you off.

The access to BWI is convenient, a money saver for the business travellers (like my wife) who are using it. It brings in bidders to the Auto Auction in Manheim. While it is not yet self supporting, that IS the goal and the airport is making noise about hoping to get there. Ticket sales are steadily increasing.

Whether it's truly "essential" to Lancaster is an open question. We certainly weren't failing to grow as an area without it. But we definitely don't have handy access to a hub airport via highway. And rail service to Philadelphia is both costly and inconvenient.

Jim G
Click to expand...

I think one thing that has helped prevent over-development is the poor east/west highway routes to/from Lancaster County.

Drive over to Chester County to see the future is they ever build a 4 lane direct from Philly to Lancaster. :frown2:

LNS used to be a USAir feeder. CapeAir to BWI is brilliant, as it makes Southwest available.
 
Federal officials are considering restoring a subsidy of more than $1 million to keep Atlanta-to-Macon passenger flights, despite the route’s 2011 average of about one person aboard each flight.
Click to expand...
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/business/2012-07-16/feds-consider-keeping-macon-atlanta-flight-subsidy-despite-average

This is absurd. Macon is 81 miles from KATL. There is an efficient van shuttle to/from KATL.

I used to live 20 miles beyond Macon and found the shuttle or driving myself was easier--and sometimes quicker. On one return trip, I had to wait a couple of hours at KATL for my flight to Macon. We boarded the CRJ and spent 26 minutes inching down the parallel before we took off for the 20-minute flight to Macon. I could have gotten home an hour earlier if I had driven.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Seems to me there's a good market for operating a bunch of Navajos and 402s over those routes instead of 1900s and Dash 8s. At the very least it would decrease the costs significantly.
Click to expand...

The EAS routes up here in New England are flown by Cape Air 402s.

(btw, the Cape Air link someone else posted is a "Cessna 404" not found for me :)
 
its only essential to the Congressmen who hand out the largesse . . .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top