You may think, “Oh, I don’t need food stamps, so the government shutdown won’t hurt me.” But South Dakota’s jet set could take a hit as well, as Essential Air Service, the government subsidies that keep airplanes flying out of Aberdeen, Pierre, and Watertown, will run out of money November 2. The U.S. Department of Transportation scrounged $41 million out of the seat cushions earlier this month to sustain operations, but evidently that money only gets us to Sunday.
EAS-subsidized airlines don’t have to stop flying if EAS money runs out; they just have no guarantee that they’ll get reimbursed for serving the rural airports that EAS keeps afloat. Publicly, EAS carriers are saying they’ll keep flying:
Denver Air Connection announced earlier this month that it would continue its flights despite the shutdown. “We have no intention of suspending service or cancelling flights,” Jon Coleman, the company’s senior vice president for strategy and business development, said in a press release on Oct. 6. “We understand how important these flights are for our passengers. For the foreseeable future, all DAC flights will operate as scheduled.”
Envoy Air, a regional operator owned by American Airlines, is also planning to continue flights for now. “American values its partnership with DOT and the EAS communities we serve, and we have no plans to cancel or reduce service in the immediate term,” a spokesperson said in an email [Jared Bray, “Government Shutdown Threatens Rural Air Service,” Governing, 2025.10.28].
But resolving the shutdown won’t resolve flyers’ anxiety in Aberdeen, Pierre, and Watertown. Despite USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy’s characterization of EAS as “a critical lifeline to America’s rural communities,” King Don wants to ground his rural voters by cutting more than half of EAS funding:
The Trump administration wants to slash the budget for the federal Essential Air Service program and that could affect three of South Dakota’s airports.
State Transportation Secretary Joel Jundt briefed the South Dakota Aeronautics Commission about the situation.
The program currently is budgeted at $588 million, Jundt told the commission members on Thursday, and Trump wants to reduce the amount by $308 million.
“So that would be a fairly substantial cut relative to that program,” Jundt said [Bob Mercer, “Essential Air Service’s Funding Might Be Cut,” KELO-TV, 2025.06.13].
Shadow-president and chief implementer of Project 2025 Russell Vought sees EAS not as a critical lifeline but a huge waste of money:
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 [Russel Vought, Office of Management and Budget, recommendations for FY 2026 discretionary funding levels, sent to U.S. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, 2025.05.02, p. 23].
So, as with so many other government programs on which South Dakota depends, the threat to rural access to air travel isn’t Democrats demanding a humane budget (remember: President Biden double-plussed EAS funding); it’s King Don seeking to permanently decimate Essential Air Service.
You think rural voters will get mad at Trump? They love the rapist con man. They are flagellants of the highest order. Trump, Christ no difference to them. Lower those beef prices,swish, crack. NOW, and no complaints.
Recall that in 1997 South Dakota got $23 million for going without Amtrak service so then-Gov. Bill Janklow funneled much of that money into the Governor’s Club and in 2007 Republican Gov. Mike Rounds spent some of it on an airplane for his personal use.
South Dakota received nearly $27 million from the Federal Railroad Administration in both 2022 and 2023 through what’s known as federal Short-Time Compensation program. But Republicans in Montana and SD Department of Transportation Secretary Joel Jundt believe subsidized air service is what Republicans want because hey, why would they endure riding through the destruction they’ve caused when you can just fly over it?
So, in a state that says it hates big government money essential air service into South Dakota’s capital city has always looked like a bridge to nowhere. After the failure of Great Lakes Airlines to even board enough passengers to make subsidies work the corruption in Pierre continues. Water lines breaking, sinkholes, polyandry: just another day in the ditch, right?