The shutdown of the federal government means funding for airlines serving small and remote airports will run out on Sunday.
But the airports in Quincy and at Fort Leonard Wood are not expecting any changes to service, for now.
The Essential Air Service grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation subsidizes carriers serving areas without other air options, including Quincy’s Baldwin Field and Waynesville-St. Robert Regional Airport located at Fort Leonard Wood.
The suspension of funding comes at a time when the airport in Quincy is switching from Southern Airways Express to Contour Airlines at the end of the month.
Bill Lantz, the airport’s director, said Southern has no plans to change anything, even though the carrier is on its way out.
“They've assured us that they're going to continue business as usual,” he said. “Right now they're not anticipating this governmental shutdown to affect the operation in the short term for them.”
Lantz also said Contour has indicated it is ready to start service on Nov. 1, even if the shutdown is still going.
Fort Leonard Wood’s airport is also not expecting any changes to service in the foreseeable future.
“We have worked with our provider, Contour Airlines, and it is their intent to continue to operate a full flight schedule during the federal government shutdown,” said John Doyle, the city administrator for Waynesville and a member of the airport board.
Contour serves the Waynesville-St. Robert airport with flights to Dallas and Nashville. The company’s business model is based on serving small airports with 30-seat jets and receiving essential air service grants from the Department of Transportation.
Records show the company received more than $4.7 million in subsidies for that service in 2024. That same report shows Southern Airways Express received more than $4 million to serve Quincy.
It’s unclear how a protracted government shutdown would affect airlines that are dependent on the EAS grants. Contour Airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Some airline industry analysts suspect the halt in funding could lead some carriers to walk away from serving small airports, or mean big changes to the program that was designed to be temporary when it was launched nearly 50 years ago to soften the blow of deregulation but has increased to a $340 million expenditure each year.
