The commercial air service subsidy at Bradford Regional Airport appears to be in line for renewal for another year.

The federal Department of Transportation issued an order on Friday tentatively granting an Essential Air Service subsidy for Fiscal Year 2019 for Bradford. The order noted that while the per-passenger subsidy has not met the mark of $200 or below, it is lower than at least one of the previous three fiscal years.

Alicia Dankesreiter, airport director, said Monday that she expects service to continue without change or interruption at Bradford airport.

“My expectation is that, as outlined in the DOT order, the tentative waiver granted to (Bradford) will be finalized by Secretary (Elaine) Chao and it will be business as usual,” she said.

The DOT’s order goes on to explain that Bradford’s subsidy for 2019 is $276 for 313 service days and an average of 12.7 enplanements and deplanements.

That level is lower than the 2015 level of $289, the DOT’s order stated. Therefore, the department granted the airport a waiver, allowing EAS to continue for another year.

Southern Airways has been the commercial carrier at the airport for several years, and has been working with the airport authority and officials to build passenger counts at the local facility.

Dankesreiter said the bottom line is that passengers are the ones who can make the most difference.

“The Airport Authority and I continuously work to keep our service cost down by weighing things like one destination verses two,” she said. “However the amount of people who use the service is really what matters. Jamestown lost service last year and Franklin is on the short list today. DOT is cutting airports loose. It is very much a ‘use it or lose it’ scenario for the community.”

The EAS subsidy is reviewed annually by the Department of Transportation.