{"id":101352,"date":"2016-05-25T11:43:35","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T16:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=101352"},"modified":"2016-05-26T17:43:54","modified_gmt":"2016-05-26T22:43:54","slug":"heitkamp-on-jmst-eas-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=101352","title":{"rendered":"Heitkamp on Essential Air Service funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SenatorHeitkampofficial\"WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 <\/strong>U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today announced nearly $7 million in federal Essential Air Service (EAS) funding to help continue reliable air service to the Devils Lake and Jamestown areas, and continue the positive economic impact that results from such investments.<\/p>\n

The EAS funding \u2013 federal support which helps airlines boost services to rural communities which Heitkamp has advocated for \u2013 made possible by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), will provide both Devils Lake and Jamestown communities with 12 nonstop or one-stop trips per week from July 1, 2016 through June, 30, 2018. EAS is a program within DOT.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no question our rural economies benefit when residents can rely on affordable, accessible air travel to their areas, that\u2019s why it\u2019s great news Devils Lake and Jamestown will continue to receive federal support that will boost local businesses and tourism for the next two years,\u201d said Heitkamp. \u201cStrong Essential Air Service investments bring more tourism and steady business to both Devils Lake and Jamestown, so our local communities and economies can continue to thrive.\u201d
\nBecause of EAS, communities in Devils Lake and Jamestown have benefited from improved access to air service which has promoted tourism and helped make air travel possible for residents, and allowed businesses to thrive and support jobs locally.<\/p>\n

According to the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission, air travel to the Devils Lake and Jamestown areas brought $2.1 million<\/a> from visitors to the area in 2015 \u2013 as well as supporting 209 jobs<\/a> in the state. Since last year, ridership to Jamestown has increased by almost 40 percent<\/a>, and travelers to Devils Lake have increased by almost 56 percent<\/a> \u2013 and those numbers are climbing<\/a>.
\nHeitkamp met with\u00a0Devils Lake Mayor Dick Johnson and Devils Lake Regional Airport Board<\/a>\u00a0in June 2015 to discuss the positive economic impact that reliable air service has had on the area, and the need to make sure Essential Air Service continues to make air travel to Devils Lake possible. In 2014, Heitkamp pushed<\/a> DOT officials to make air travel more accessible to North Dakotans living outside major airport hubs, as well as make more competitive options available to customers flying to western destinations through EAS service to Devils Lake and Jamestown<\/a> airports.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last month, Heitkamp helped reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which included a bipartisan provision she supported to maintain EAS<\/a> as a way to continue to provide travel options for North Dakotans living outside of major airport hubs, and make competitive options available to customers flying to western destinations through EAS services to Devils Lake and Jamestown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today announced nearly $7 million in federal Essential Air Service (EAS) funding to help continue reliable air service to the Devils Lake and Jamestown areas, and continue the positive economic impact that results from such investments. The EAS funding \u2013 federal support which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31894,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jamestown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=101352"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101466,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101352\/revisions\/101466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=101352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=101352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=101352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}