Funding for a US Transportation Department program that provides subsidies to airlines to maintain flights to small and rural US communities is set to dry up as soon as Sunday if the government shutdown persists.
“Essential Air Service subsidies are expected to expire as soon as Sunday. USDOT exhausted every resource in trying to prolong an EAS shortfall, including transferring unrelated funding from the FAA as an advance,” the department said in a statement, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The statement blamed