Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – May 17, 2025 – Daily flights from Jonesboro to St. Louis, MO and Nashville, TN could end if cuts made to the Federal Government’s Essential Air Service (EAS) in the 2026 federal budget become permanent.

The White House’s budget proposal includes a request to reduce funding to the EAS program by $308 million—about half the program’s total budget.

Jonesboro is one of four Arkansas cities that receives EAS service. Others are El Dorado, Hot Springs and Harrison.

The budget request notes, “The EAS program 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. Spending on programs is out of control, more than doubling between 2021 and 2025. The Budget reins in EAS subsidies by proposing a mix of reforms to adjust eligibility and subsidy rates to help rural communities’ air transportation needs in a more sustainable manner. This would save American taxpayers over $300 million from the 2025 level.”

Reductions in funding to the EAS program could be reduced, expanded, or eliminated entirely as Congress continues to debate and amend the budget bill.

Southern Airways Express assumed the EAS contract when it acquired Air Choice One in March 2023. Southern was founded in Memphis in 2013. The airline operates two daily roundtrip flights between Jonesboro and St. Louis and one daily roundtrip flight between Jonesboro and Nashville. The typical one-way fare on the St. Louis route is $111 while the fare to Nashville is $129.

As of October 2024, Southern was receiving subsidies to support Arkansas airports from the US Department of Transportation totaling more than $12 million annually:

Harrison – $3,844,355
El Dorado – $3,541,596
Hot Springs – $3,009,509
Jonesboro – $2,352,153

But why is the federal government subsidizing airline service when the industry was deregulated in 1978?

Prior to 1978, all airline service and fares were regulated by the federal government. The idea was to promote the health and sustainability of the airline industry in its earliest years and prevent reckless competition from ultimately making the entire industry unviable for everybody. A government price-fixing organization, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), analyzed air travel demand and awarded route authorities to airlines based on need. Airlines were otherwise unable to operate interstate airline service without route authorities from the CAB.

By the late 1970s, it became clear the regulations were actually hindering the growth of the industry, and President Carter signed a bill deregulating the industry. This allowed airlines to fly wherever they wished domestically, setting their own fares.

The Essential Air Service (EAS) act was written into the same act that deregulated the industry to protect airline service at small communities where airline service would be economically unviable without subsidy, as a way of fulfilling the government’s obligation to provide access to the national transportation network.

To receive subsidies, airlines submit proposals to the federal government for a set number of cities the government determines as needing subsidies for flights connecting smaller airports to medium or large hub airports. As part of the proposal, airlines provide estimates for how much money they would lose operating the route, requesting government funds to make up the difference, plus a 5% profit margin to account for fluctuations in actual demand. The Department of Transportation (DOT) reviews the proposals, then selects the proposal that best fits the requirements of the law.

U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) questioned U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy this week on his plans to help rural communities in Arkansas and across the country maintain important transportation services and secure funding for critical infrastructure projects.

The senator reiterated the importance of the Essential Air Service and Contract Towers programs, which he has long supported for their success collaborating with private industry to serve rural residents.

“I know you know that, coming from the part of the country that you represented,” Boozman told Duffy.

JRN made an unsuccessful attempted to obtain a comment from Jonesboro Municipal Airport manager George Johnson about Southern’s performance. The Airportia website On-Time Performance Rating for Southern Airways at the Jonesboro Municipal Airport (JBR) is 4.2/5 stars. Airportia says it calculates this metric using data from all flight departures from the airport in the last 10 days.