Rockefeller: Protecting airport funds 'everything to me'

Feb. 03--Protecting Morgantown's Essential Air Service (EAS) funding is vital to one U.S. senator and a bill providing funds should pass in the near future, he said.

"It's everything to me," Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said about keeping Morgantown's funding.

He said Morgantown needs to keep its funding because of population shifts from the state's south to the north and because of how many people already use the airport.

EAS provides a subsidy to commercial airlines that provide service in rural areas. A proposal would have cut EAS funding for airports within 90 miles of a larger hub airport, which would have eliminated Morgantown's money.

But Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate's Commerce, Science and Transportation committee, and other legislators spoke out against the plan.

"Flights are lifelines for business people and traveling people, and for our economy," Rockefeller said during a conference call. He later added, "The more you have, the better it is."

The new EAS criteria are part of a larger bill to provide longterm funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The funding expired, but has been restored through roughly two dozen short-term extensions. The new bill provides funding through 2015.

When the funding was in question, Rockefeller said, he didn't receive many calls about it, but he said he thought that was because EAS was an off-putting title. But he knows Morgantown officials were worried about potential cuts.

Morgantown Mayor Jim Manilla welcomed the funding restoration.

"I think that's great news," he said.

The airport is the city's top economic priority, Manilla said. A new National Guard facility is being planned at the airport. Land near the airport could be developed for several businesses.

Rockefeller said he also got involved with the discussions when WVU was looking at joining the Big 12.

He said some people said airports large enough to provide service for football-related activities were too far from Morgantown. But he noted that when teams travel to the University of Oklahoma, they use an airport 30 minutes away, which is the distance from Bridgeport's North Central West Virginia Airport to Morgantown.

But the bill isn't just about Morgantown.

Rockefeller said the bill also has changes for FAA's entire operation. One change is switching from radar to a GPS system, which will improve safety and efficiency for planes on the ground and in the air, Rockefeller said. The change will start with the largest airports in the country. All airports will have the new technology by 2020.

The Senate will likely take up debate on the bill early next week, Rockefeller said. The House is also supposed to discuss the bill in the near future. If it passes Congress, it will go to President Obama for his signature, Rockefeller said.

Rockefeller said he still expects the bill to be one of only a handful approved by this Congress.