BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

Senator Chuck Schumer is calling on the Trump administration to modify a budget plan he said will impact North Country airports that are part of the Essential Air Service program.

According to Schumer, cuts proposed in the recently released budget proposal would slash EAS funding by 50%, directly impacting airports in Massena and Ogdensburg that utilize the service.

Plattsburgh, Adirondack and Watertown Airports would also be impacted, he said.

Schumer called the potential cuts "devastating for the North Country's residents, universities and businesses," as he called on NY House Republicans to voice opposition to the budget in an effort to protect the program.

“Trump’s half-baked plan to cut the vital Essential Air Service program will hit the North Country first and hardest. All five of the North Country’s airports rely on the federal EAS program, and without it many would lose these vital flights hurting residents, businesses, universities and hampering tourism, as well,” Senator Schumer said. “I’ve long fought to protect and boost the Essential Air Service program because I know how important it is for our rural communities like the North Country to get access to these flights to boost the local economy and connect area residents and businesses with national and international travel options. Without this program, thousands of North Country residents would be left stranded having to travel hundreds of miles to get air service.”

Schumer called directly on North Country Representative Elise Stefanik to take action in his statement.

“That’s why I’m calling on NY House Republicans, including Congresswoman Stefanik and Tenney, whose districts would be impacted more than nearly anywhere else in the country, to stand up against Trump’s budget plan and beat back this very unwise cut. We cannot let these callous cuts clear the runway and blow a crater in North Country airports’ budgets.”

The proposed cuts would remove over $300 million from the program next year, gutting support for North Country Airports, Schumer said.

"Without these airports, North Country passengers would have to travel hundreds of miles to access air service, for example passengers in Massena would have to travel as much as 256 miles to access air service. In addition to potential loss of air service it would also devastate the local economy and eliminate hundreds of jobs," the statement said.

The EAS program was first introduced after the airline industry was deregulated in 1978, giving airlines the freedom to decide what markets they wished to serve.

As a result, airlines operated in larger markets with higher populations, leaving smaller and less densely populated areas without air service.

Federal officials stepped in with the EAS program to guarantee air service in such communities, ensuring commuter airlines could be accessed in rural communities.

Most recently, Breeze Airways was selected as the EAS provider at Ogdensburg International Airport, offering daily flights to Washington D.C.'s Dulles Airport.

Boutique Air provides daily flights to Boston Logan International Airport as part of the program as well.

The move to slash program funding comes after Senator Schumer passed the FAA Bill last year to ensure a 111% funding increase per year to strengthen the EAS program, he said.

The bill also made it harder for airlines to terminate contracts that could leave communities without air service by incentivizing airpots keep EAS contracts, ensuring access in the most rural areas of the country.

The news of the potential cuts comes less than two weeks after Stefanik requested Security Secretary Kristi Noem designate Plattsburgh International Airport as a port of entry.

Stefanik said the airport is a "vital economic engine" within NY-21 and provides essential transportation services for upstate New York and North Country families, as well as tourists visiting the region.

“Plattsburgh International Airport is one of only two primary commercial service airports in close proximity to a northern or southern border land crossing designated as a user-fee airport, which requires the airport to pay out of pocket for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) services such as security screenings, cargo security and examinations, and immigration inspections. Even though PBG qualifies as a port of entry under CBP’s criteria, CBP still designates it as a user-fee airport. This creates a significant disadvantage for PBG by imposing user fees of approximately $800,000 annually, a substantial financial burden on the airport and for travelers flying in and out," Stefanik said April 25.

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