Gov't Pays for Empty Flights to Rural Airports

[Appaholic]

On some days, the pilots with Great Lakes Airlines fire up a twin-engine Beechcraft 1900 at the Ely, Nev., airport and depart for Las Vegas without a single passenger on board. And the federal government pays them to do it.

Federal statistics reviewed by The Associated Press show that in 2010, just 227 passengers flew out of Ely while the airline got $1.8 million in subsidies. The travelers paid $70 to $90 for a one-way ticket. The cost to taxpayers for each ticket: $4,107.

Ely is one of 153 rural communities where airlines get subsidies through the $200 million Essential Air Service program, and one of 13 that critics say should be eliminated from it. Some call the spending a boondoggle, but others see it as a critical financial lifeline to ensure economic stability in rural areas.

Steve Smith, executive director of the Jackson, Tenn., airport authority, also has seen empty or near empty flights take off, since the airlines get paid per flight, not per passenger. The subsidy amounted to $244 for each of the 2,514 people who flew out of Smith's airport last year, though few if any passengers knew that.

"They fly the empty plane so they can still get the money," Smith said.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/201 ... l-airports

[kalm]

It's like paying farmers to not grow crops or bailing out big banks to not lend money.

[BDKJMU]

Yep, Harry Reid had his fingerprints all over this:

".....While the public was focused on the potential government shutdown over the debt ceiling debate, Harry Reid quietly forced a partial shutdown of the FAA. For months, Reid has blocked a long-term extension of the FAA reauthorization, while forcing Congress to pass reckless short-term measures that lacked much-needed reform.

The last extension expired July 23, but Harry Reid has refused to consider the House-passed extension through September. The House bill cut a subsidy program to three rural airports, where the cost of subsidized flights was hopelessly uneconomical. One of those airports, White Pine County Airport in Ely, Nevada, enjoys a subsidy to the tune of $3,720 per passenger! [Read more about it here] Yet, Reid refused to relinquish his selfish pork, causing a partial shutdown of the FAA and the furloughing of 4,000 employees. Additionally, the shutdown has cost the government millions in lost revenue from taxes on airline tickets. So much for a balanced approach on revenue......."
http://www.redstate.com/dhorowitz3/2011 ... a-funding/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's more BS:

".....The deal would allow the Senate to approve a House bill extending the FAA's operating authority through mid-September, including a provision that eliminates $16.5 million in air service subsidies to 13 rural communities. Passage of the bill is expected Friday.
Senators have scattered for their August recess, but the measure can be approved if leaders from both parties agree to adopt it by "unanimous consent."
Republicans had insisted on the subsidy cuts as their price for restoring the FAA to full operation. But the cuts may become moot.
The bill includes language that gives Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood the authority to continue subsidized service to the 13 communities if he decides it's necessary.
Democrats said they expect the administration to effectively waive or negate the cuts.
"I just know that the White House has provided assurances that they (the communities) will be held harmless," said a Senate Democratic leadership aide who asked not to be named because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the deal......."
http://news.yahoo.com/reid-congress-rea ... 40538.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Latest greatest example of govt pork, and Ely, Nevada is the worst example. Before you had the bridge to nowhere from a republican Senator from Alaska. Now you have the "flight to nowhere" from a democrat senator from Nevada.

The govt taking taxpayer $ to pay for people to fly to little cities is BS, and should be 100% eliminated. Hopefully it will be with the Committee of 12.