Airline subsidies

This week, the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport should find out which carrier gets a contract for passenger service to a metropolitan hub. Boardings with the current carrier, Great Lakes Airlines, have been low. At least two reasons have been suggested: Only two flights a day and a schedule that doesn't coordinate well with connecting flights out of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

Because only two passengers, on average, are currently flying out of and into Cape Girardeau, the federal Essential Air Service program is subsidizing the carrier to the tune of about $2,000 per passenger, according to figures supplied by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which has recommended increased subsidies for rural airports.

Subsidies of thousands or even hundreds of dollars per passenger can't be justified. Subsides are supposed to boost passenger boardings and encourage better connections with the hub airports of major airlines.

Two other regional airports -- Jackson, Tenn., and Owensboro, Ky. -- are pushing to be served by Pacific Wings, a Hawaii-based company with connections to Nashville and Atlanta at low-cost fares.

Most importantly, Pacific Wings' goal of building up service to the point that it no longer needs to be subsidized has been well-received. That should be the goal of all subsidized regional carriers.