DOT awards $11.975 million to 14 communities under small air service program

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $11.975 million to 14 communities in 14 states through the Small Community Air Service Development Program. The program funds efforts to start, restore or expand commercial air service.

Grants can pay for several kinds of work: guarantees against an airline's losses on a new route, advertising, launch expenses, and studies of local air service.

The department said it received 60 applications from communities in 32 states and territories, seeking nearly $49 million in total. Four were ruled ineligible, leaving 56 in the running.

Most of the winning communities plan to use their grants for a revenue guarantee, which limits how much an airline can lose when it opens a route. An award alone does not mean flights will start. Each community still has to sign a grant agreement with the department and reach a separate deal with an airline.

Dutch Harbor, also called Unalaska, will spend its share on a study of whether air service to the remote community can be sustained, and at what cost to passengers. The application cited fares that are high and unpredictable, carriers that come and go, and repeated interruptions to service. The study will examine the operating and economic conditions needed to keep flights running.

Flagstaff plans to combine a revenue guarantee with marketing to support service to Denver or Salt Lake City.