Small communities in Montana dependent on Essential Air Service (EAS) may lose the $300 million those airports have depended upon to fund air service from services such a CapeAir.

Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget issued a letter in May which included the loss of that federal subsidy as one of the cuts that the federal executive branch wants to make in the fiscal year 2026 budget.

“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,” the document reads.

Montana has seven airports that receive EAS funding: Butte, West Yellowstone, Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Sidney and Wolf Point.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Montana had 2.87 million passengers boarding a plane, in 2023. About 2.5 million of those boardings came from airports in Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell, and Billings. Bozeman had 1.2 million.

Through the EAS program, Butte and West Yellowstone received about $2.5 million combined in 2023 for SkyWest to operate flights to Denver and Salt Lake City.  West Yellowstone had 8,750 passengers an increase of 19.11% and Butte had slightly more than 16,000 passengers in 2023.

Sidney had 8,000 boardings — a 22% increase more than 2022 — with Wolf Point, Havre and Glasgow each having around 3,000 boardings. Glendive had 2,177 boardings in 2023.