Vital Connection for Montana Communities: Cape Air

—May 7, 2025 —

In eastern Montana, towns are often separated by hundreds of miles of open land. For people living in these rural areas, air travel is more than a convenience. For many Montanans, Essential Air Service is a necessity.

For more than a decade, Cape Air has helped keep Montana communities connected to global air travel through the federal Essential Air Service (EAS) program.

After airline deregulation in 1978, many major airlines stopped flying to small towns. The government created the EAS program to make sure rural areas were included in the national air system. EAS provides funding to help airlines keep flying in places where it would otherwise be too expensive to run flights.

Without EAS, many small towns would be completely cut off from fast and reliable travel, hurting their economy, access to healthcare, and overall quality of life.

In towns like Wolf Point, Havre, and Glendive, the nearest specialist or major hospital can be hundreds of miles away. During winter storms, blizzards, or emergencies, those miles stretch even farther.

Through the EAS program, Cape Air connects five eastern Montana communities to Billings. Regular flights operate twice daily from most towns, five times a day from Sidney. Fares start at just $39. These are not luxury flights. They are access points to cancer treatment, to job training, to family, to possibility.

Cape Air also plays a part in solving a national pilot shortage. Many young pilots start their careers flying these small regional routes to build experience. Without EAS-supported routes, fewer pilots would get the hours they need, and rural communities would lose even more service.

The EAS program is now under direct threat from budget cuts. Some leaders in Washington, like Steve Daines, want to cut programs they don’t understand. This could mean the end of Cape Air’s Montana routes.

If we lose these flights, it would isolate thousands of Montanans.

Montana’s U.S. Senators and Representatives have a major role to play. They vote on funding for programs like EAS and can fight to keep them alive. When they speak up, they can protect the services that keep small towns connected to the rest of the country.

Montana sends tax dollars to Washington. For every $1 we pay, we get back about $1.50 in federal services. Programs like EAS are part of that return. They keep rural Montana connected to the rest of the country. Without them, we fall further behind.

I will be a champion for the EAS program in Montana.

Contact your lawmakers and tell them how much this program matters. Steve Daines seems to have forgotten what Cape Air means to our rural communities. Remind him.

We must speak up now to keep EAS strong and make sure rural America isn’t left behind. Montana’s future depends on staying connected.