General fund appropriations for the Department for Transportation (DOT) under the Trump administration's spending proposal would dip to USD21.6 billion - a 13% cut from the funding level enacted in fiscal 2020 - making it one of multiple departments slated for cuts under the president's sweeping blueprint for slashing domestic, non-military programmes.
It also proposes to reduce discretionary funding for Essential Air Service (EAS) support and update the programme to focus on communities most in need of services. Hundreds of small communities have lost most, and in some cases even all, of their air services over the last decade as airline consolidation continued to bite.
The Budget will continue mandatory resources for EAS at approximately USD154 million, and also proposes that there are "more efficient" ways to utilise federal funds for the transportation of rural communities, as EAS costs have more than doubled in 10 years and many EAS services have high per- passenger subsidy costs while remaining unfilled.
It also notes that several EAS eligible communities are situated near major airports. In other words, you'll need to be prepared better to make a road journey to a significant airport rather than expect to able to take a direct flight from a small regional facility.
The proposal pushes for a new DOT initiative called Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success, or ROUTES, which "addresses the disparities in rural transportation infrastructure and the unique challenges that surround it," according to DOT Secretary Elaine L. Chao.
But this initiative is concerned with creating recognition that rural communities have important infrastructure needs. For example, a disproportionate amount of highway fatalities occur in rural areas, but those communities often lack the capacity to develop competitive applications for DOT financial assistance.
That is typical of the main drift of the budget document which largely ignores aviation in favour if other forms of transport, unlike previous ones in the Trump regime (often rejected by either the House of Representatives, or the Senate, or both) which tried to set up public funds to enhance airports or to make it easier for private entities to manage and invest in them.
Indeed, much of the text in the document 'A Budget for America's Future' in the DOT section relates to investment in, and reauthorisation of highway programmes, along with a reform of the national Amtrak rail system, which will receive USD1.5 billion in direct and transitional grants to "restructure the network".
The reform to the EAS system and the improvement to the FAA's safety oversight (hardly unexpected in the light of the dire situation facing Boeing over the 737 MAX) are the main aviation criteria. Elsewhere, a brief mention is made of the FAA's intention "to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the national airspace", and a note in the NASA section that the Budget will increase funding for investments in ultra-fast hypersonic flight, hybrid-electric, and research on the safe integration of remotely-piloted aircraft into US airspace.
That is pretty well it for terrestrial aviation in this budget proposal, one carefully engineered with the Presidential election in November in mind. But, there's actually quite a lot on extraterrestrial aviation as the US heads back towards the solar system.
Airports don't get a mention, they are yesterday's story. But that's strange. In his introduction, the President says, "As we enter the 2020s, our Nation confronts new challenges and opportunities. The 21st century requires us to focus on great power rivals [presumably an oblique reference to China?]… and to protect our research and environment from foreign government influence [Russia?]." One would have thought these challenges and opportunities would have prompted the President to revisit the airport sector in some detail.
NOTE: CAPA - Centre for Aviation subscribers can view the full budget text: A Budget For America's Future ?