By Robert Pore
robert.pore@theindependent.com

"We don't have the support of the Bush administration at the level we need for the Essential Air Service program," he said. "It is essential for economic development and passenger travel."

Central Nebraska Regional Airport is working with two airlines to take over Grand Island air service as part of the Essential Air Service program.

The two potential carriers are Hawaiian Island Air and Great Lakes Aviation.

According to an earlier story in The Grand Island Independent, "The airline industry is being threatened by skyrocketing fuel costs. Safety and maintenance costs are also spiraling upward. With major airlines consolidating operations across the country, it is increasingly hard for rural markets like Central Nebraska to get the attention of the major carriers."

Nelson said the tighter federal budget situation is making it harder to "hang on to what we have."

"With the growing cost of the war as part of the deficit and as part of the debt, it has made it more difficult to hang on to many of these programs," Nelson said. "But that doesn't make these programs any less important or any less essential."

With the nation's economy in a slump, Nelson said it would be unwise to pull the plug on the EAS program.

On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress that a recession is possible and policymakers are "fighting against the wind" in trying to steady a shaky economy.

"It would be unwise to unplug economic development by getting rid of essential air service to the communities that benefit from it and to reduce passenger travel or force people on the road with high gasoline prices," Nelson said.

He said a number of his colleagues from rural states depend on EAS to provide air service to rural areas of their states.

"If we join forces, we have an opportunity to continue this program," Nelson said. "But there's always someone out there to do it in. It's something we have to fight for in order to keep it."