FUNDING FOR ESSENTIAL Air Service, the federal program that supports flights to Detroit and Minneapolis from Ford Airport in Kingsford, would be cut roughly in half under a Trump administration plan. Preliminary figures show 20,244 passengers boarded flights at Ford Airport in 2024. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Dickinson County will push back against a Trump administration plan to drastically cut funding for Essential Air Service, the federal program that supports flights to Detroit and Minneapolis from Ford Airport.

“Without this program, our residents, businesses and visitors would face significant barriers to travel, commerce, health care access and economic development,” County Controller Brian Bousley states in a letter the county board approved Monday.

On May 2, White House recommendations for 2026 federal funding levels described EAS spending as “out of control, more than doubling between 2021 and 2025.” President Donald Trump wants EAS spending to be cut roughly in half — a reduction of $308 million.

As of October, EAS supported flights for 177 rural communities across the United States, mainly those where commercial airlines would not typically operate. SkyWest Airline’s current two-year contract for EAS at Ford Airport is set to expire at the end of January.

That contract also includes service at Sault Ste. Marie; Rhinelander, Wis.; and Brainerd and International Falls, Minn. The total amount for the second year of the contract provides a subsidy of up to $34.6 million.

Ford Airport’s share is $7.56 million, which compares with $3.87 million in 2023. Operating under the Delta brand, SkyWest has served as Ford Airport’s EAS carrier since 2012.

“In Dickinson County, EAS-supported flights have become an indispensable link to major hubs,” Bousley stated. “They enable our residents and regional businesses, most international, to remain connected to the broader economy and ensure that our communities are not left behind. The loss of this service would seriously impact our region’s future growth.”

During a board discussion, Commissioner Joe Stevens noted threats to EAS funding are not new. “This comes up all the time,” he said. “We have to continue to sound the horn on this.”

Stevens encouraged citizens to contact their representatives in Washington because without passenger air service “the county would really be hurting.”

Preliminary figures show 20,244 passengers boarded flights at Ford Airport in 2024, compared with 18,486 in 2023 and 20,622 in 2022. Airports with at least 10,000 annual boardings are considered primary airports for purposes of federal Airport Improvement Program funding. AIP is the county airport’s main source for financing capital projects such as resurfacing runways.

SkyWest’s schedule offers 13 roundtrips weekly to a combination of Minneapolis and Detroit, generally with seating for 65 to 76 passengers. When the contract was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration in December 2023, a cheaper offer from Boutique Air of San Francisco, Calif., was rejected.

That proposal called for turbo-props seating eight or nine passengers and offering 24 weekly roundtrips to Minneapolis only. Boutique’s proposed subsidy was $5.92 million in the first year and $6.25 million in the second year.

The Trump administration, in its budget recommendation, claims EAS “funnels taxpayer dollars to airlines to subsidize half-empty flights from airports that are within easy commuting distance from each other, while also failing to effectively provide assistance to most rural air travelers.”