Essential Air Service

For the first time in 76 years, Hagerstown Regional Airport does not have passenger airline service. The airport's only commercial carrier, Air Midwest, left Monday after its contract to fly US Airways Express flights to and from the airport expired. Air Midwest officials had said the carrier would not continue its twice-daily flights between Hagerstown and Pittsburgh without federal funding. Although President Bush signed into law Saturday a spending bill that includes temporary funding for the Essential Air Service subsidy program, Air Midwest did not renew its contract.

HAGERSTOWN - Commercial air service at Hagerstown Regional Airport would be preserved through at least Nov. 15 under a federal funding bill awaiting President Bush's signature. Without the funding, Air Midwest, the only carrier serving the airport, has said it will leave when its contract expires Sunday. Maryland senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski said a measure to extend the Essential Air Service subsidy program was part of a stopgap spending bill that Congress passed Thursday night.

Commercial air service at Hagerstown Regional Airport would be preserved through at least Nov. 15 under a federal funding bill awaiting President Bush's signature. Without the funding, Air Midwest, the only carrier serving the airport, has said it will leave when its contract expires Sunday. Maryland senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski said a measure to extend the Essential Air Service subsidy program was part of a stopgap spending bill that Congress passed Thursday night.

HAGERSTOWN - U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin introduced legislation Wednesday to help Hagerstown Regional Airport keep a federal subsidy to provide commercial air service through 2012. The Washington County airport is designated as an Essential Air Service facility, which means it is eligible for the subsidy so it can maintain a minimum level of passenger service. A US Airways Express carrier at the airport receives the $650,000 annual federal subsidy to provide that service.

tarar@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - There's a chance commercial flights could continue without disruption at Hagerstown Regional Airport after March 5, the last day of scheduled U.S. Airways passenger service. The fate of the service depends on whether the airport is reinstated as an "Essential Air Service" facility by the U.S. Department of Transportation. With the designation, it's possible the federal government would subsidize a commercial carrier to offer flights at the airport.

marlob@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Word came Friday that scheduled passenger service will continue at Hagerstown Regional Airport for at least the next two years, thanks to a favorable decision by the U.S. Department of Transportation reinstating the airport as an Essential Air Service facility. Reached at home Friday evening, Airport Manager Carolyn Motz said this is "just exactly what we wanted. " "This eligibility will help assure that the citizens of Washington County and the surrounding Quad-State region may continue to conveniently access the national air transportation system," Motz said.

tarar@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN A US Airways Express carrier that planned to leave Hagerstown Regional Airport will receive a $650,000 annual federal subsidy to stay there through September 2007. Air Midwest, which operates as US Airways Express at the airport, will provide three round trips per day from Hagerstown to Pittsburgh International Airport in 19-seat Beech 1900D aircraft. It currently offers two daily flights. U.S. Sens. Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski, both D-Md.

A recently expired federal program that funded Hagerstown Regional Airport's passenger service would be reauthorized for another year under a bill passed Tuesday night by the U.S. Senate. Essential Air Service (EAS), a subsidy program that helps communities far from larger hub airports, would be extended until Sept. 30, 2008. The program expired Sept. 30, 2007. Hagerstown Regional Airport has been without carrier service since Air Midwest stopped its US Airways Express flights between Washington County and Pittsburgh the day the subsidy expired.

A recently expired federal program that funded Hagerstown Regional Airport's passenger service would be reauthorized for another year under a bill passed Tuesday night by the U.S. Senate. Essential Air Service (EAS), a subsidy program that helps communities far from larger hub airports, would be extended until Sept. 30, 2008. The program expired Sept. 30, 2007. Hagerstown Regional Airport has been without carrier service since Air Midwest stopped its US Airways Express flights between Washington County and Pittsburgh the day the subsidy expired.

A federal subsidy for Hagerstown Regional Airport is at risk in a tug of war that appeared certain to shut down parts of the Federal Aviation Administration and temporarily put nearly 4,000 people out of work. Congress failed Friday to work out a partisan dispute over legislation to temporarily extend the FAA's operating authority, according to the Associated Press. Portions of the FAA were expected to close at midnight. The Hagerstown subsidy - more than $1.2 million - pays for Cape Air to fly back and forth to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

The federal program that provides Hagerstown Regional Airport with a $1.2 million annual subsidy for air service could be at risk. The local airport has relied on federal Essential Air Service funding since the program's inception in 1978. The $200 million national program subsidizes air service to and from communities far from large airports. On Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved a Federal Aviation Administration budget with a new parameter for the EAS program that would eliminate Hagerstown.

A recently expired federal program that funded Hagerstown Regional Airport's passenger service would be reauthorized for another year under a bill passed Tuesday night by the U.S. Senate. Essential Air Service (EAS), a subsidy program that helps communities far from larger hub airports, would be extended until Sept. 30, 2008. The program expired Sept. 30, 2007. Hagerstown Regional Airport has been without carrier service since Air Midwest stopped its US Airways Express flights between Washington County and Pittsburgh the day the subsidy expired.

A recently expired federal program that funded Hagerstown Regional Airport's passenger service would be reauthorized for another year under a bill passed Tuesday night by the U.S. Senate. Essential Air Service (EAS), a subsidy program that helps communities far from larger hub airports, would be extended until Sept. 30, 2008. The program expired Sept. 30, 2007. Hagerstown Regional Airport has been without carrier service since Air Midwest stopped its US Airways Express flights between Washington County and Pittsburgh the day the subsidy expired.

HAGERSTOWN - For the first time in 76 years, Hagerstown Regional Airport does not have passenger airline service. The airport's only commercial carrier, Air Midwest, left Monday after its contract to fly US Airways Express flights to and from the airport expired. Air Midwest officials had said the carrier would not continue its twice-daily flights between Hagerstown and Pittsburgh without federal funding. Although President Bush signed into law Saturday a spending bill that includes temporary funding for the Essential Air Service subsidy program, Air Midwest did not renew its contract.

HAGERSTOWN - Commercial air service at Hagerstown Regional Airport would be preserved through at least Nov. 15 under a federal funding bill awaiting President Bush's signature. Without the funding, Air Midwest, the only carrier serving the airport, has said it will leave when its contract expires Sunday. Maryland senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski said a measure to extend the Essential Air Service subsidy program was part of a stopgap spending bill that Congress passed Thursday night.

Commercial air service at Hagerstown Regional Airport would be preserved through at least Nov. 15 under a federal funding bill awaiting President Bush's signature. Without the funding, Air Midwest, the only carrier serving the airport, has said it will leave when its contract expires Sunday. Maryland senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski said a measure to extend the Essential Air Service subsidy program was part of a stopgap spending bill that Congress passed Thursday night.

HAGERSTOWN - Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin said Thursday he is "committed to ensuring" that commercial air service continues at Hagerstown Regional Airport, which stands to lose its only passenger airline carrier when a federal subsidy expires at the end of September. Cardin, D-Md., introduced a proposal Thursday with Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., that would force the airport's commercial carrier, Air Midwest, to continue flights to the airport through the end of the year or until another airline can be found to replace it. "The airport is an essential transportation hub in Western Maryland," Cardin said.

HAGERSTOWN Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin said Thursday he is "committed to ensuring" that commercial air service continues at Hagerstown Regional Airport, which stands to lose its only passenger airline carrier when a federal subsidy expires at the end of September. Cardin, D-Md., introduced a proposal Thursday with Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski,D-Md., that would force the airport's commercial carrier, Air Midwest, to continue flights to the airport through the end of the year or until another airline can be found to replace it. "The airport is an essential transportation hub in Western Maryland," Cardin said.