USCTA Alert
Lawmakers Advocate for Small Community Programs
May 15, 2025
During a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation today, several lawmakers voiced their support for the Essential Air Service and FAA Contract Tower Programs. This was Duffy’s second appearance on Capitol Hill in as many days to discuss the administration’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request.Witness: DOT Secretary Sean Duffy.
Essential Air Service Program
- Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and several other lawmakers questioned Duffy about the administration’s plan to cut EAS. Collins told Duffy that the program is a “lifeline” to five communities in Maine and others around the country.
- The administration is proposing to cut EAS funding by $308 million in FY26. Duffy tried to reassure lawmakers that he understands how important the program is to communities in their states and vowed to work with them on a path forward. But it’s clear from recent history and today’s questioning that the committee is unlikely to support deep cuts to EAS.
Contract Tower Program
- Subcommittee Chair Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) asked Secretary Duffy to provide an update on the Trent Lott International Airport’s efforts to join the FAA Contract Tower Program. Hyde-Smith told Duffy that the airport, which is located near Pascagoula, Mississippi, has been waiting to be admitted to the program for some time, and she pressed the Secretary to make the transition happen this year.
- Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and John Boozman (R-AR), longtime supporters of the FCT program, also voiced their support for contract towers. Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) is expected to submit “questions for the record” about the public-private-partnership that enhances aviation safety at 265 airports around the country.
- Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) reiterated his opposition to facial recognition technology at security checkpoints and highlighted a bipartisan bill that he, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and others introduced that would restrict the use of biometric facial recognition technologies at security checkpoints. Proponents were unsuccessful in their efforts to add similar legislation to the FAA reauthorization bill last year.
- Duffy agreed with Kennedy’s concerns about facial recognition technology and told lawmakers he “tries to turn his head away from the camera” when he goes through security checkpoints at airports.
- “I think Americans have a right to privacy, and I don’t think you need a digital scan of my face to allow me to have the right to fly on an airplane,” Duffy said. “I think it is absolutely wrong.”
Additional Information
