Rural Airport Flights Escape Shutdown Funding Crunch—for Now (1)

Funding for rural airports will continue during the shutdown regardless of claims by the Trump administration, according to key lawmakers and administration documents.

Essential Air Service subsidizes airlines to operate in remote areas, about a third of which are in Alaska. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claimed on Oct. 6 the program would run out of money by Oct. 12, only to announce two days later that his agency had identified $41 million to cover its costs until early November.

“Democrats are putting their wish list for illegal immigrants over the needs of smaller, American communities relying on services like EAS ...