The White House is proposing a cut in assistance to rural air carriers from $102 million this year to $50 million next year.

It is unclear exactly how the cuts would be spread across more than 100 airports, but managers at Utah airports whose air carriers rely on the program say the impact could be severe.

"I'm scared to death," said Steve Farmer, manager of the airport in Cedar City.

The Cedar City carrier, Sky West, received $836,102 in federal subsidies last year. Salmon Air, based in Salmon, Idaho, received about $600,000 for its routes to Vernal and another $675,000 for its service to Moab. Without those funds, the cities could lose millions of dollars in economic benefits generated by the air service.

A study by the state of Utah determined that the Cedar City airport generates more than $22 million in economic activity. The Moab airport brings in nearly $6 million and Vernal produces more than $5.5 million, the report said.

Wiping out the subsidy "may sound like an $800,000 impact to the community, but it's not. It's an order of magnitude greater than that," Farmer said.

The Essential Air Service program was created when Congress deregulated the airline industry in 1978 and was aimed at providing subsidies to air carriers as an incentive for them to continue flying into rural airports that otherwise would not be profitable.

"If they didn't have the subsidy, I just don't think they could make a profit because the tickets would have to be so high that people wouldn't use it," said Thomas Wardell, general manager of the Vernal airport. "For the common people who need to visit their family or visit the doctor in Salt Lake and get back, it just makes it really hard."

As a result of the subsidy, U.S. taxpayers end up paying as much as $200 for every ticket a passenger buys to fly to one of the participating rural airports. The size of the program has ballooned from $40 million in 1999 to $102 million last year.

In tough fiscal times, using taxpayer dollars to subsidize private air travel is not a national priority and the funds should be cut, said David Williams, vice president of Citizens Against Government Waste. At the same time, the broad support among members of Congress make it a hard one to rein in, he said.

In each of his last several budget requests, Bush has tried to cut funding down to the statutory minimum of $50 million, but each time rural members in Congress have restored the money.

"This [program] is small potatoes," said Maurice Parker, executive director of the Regional Aviation Partners, which represents small airports. "Why this program draws such ire from the administration beats the dickens out of us. We don't understand it."

Supporters are hopeful they can prevail on Congress once again to restore the funding, although the tight budget proposed by the president might make it harder.

"In my previous four years in Congress it's been an issue in all four years and in all four years Congress has restored the money for this program," said Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, a member of the House Transportation Committee. "It's not a partisan issue. Congressmen from across the spectrum recognize that this is critical to rural America."

The president also wants local governments to match between 10 percent and 25 percent of the amount they receive through the program. Cedar City, for example, would have to come up with about $195,000. Vernal would have to contribute about $150,000.

"Cedar City feels its air service is critical enough that it would do what it would have to do, but can you imagine a small city like Cedar City coming up with that kind of money?" said Farmer.

He said the airport is working on becoming self-sustaining, so it can operate without a federal subsidy, but it needs the federal funding stream for another two or three years until the plan takes effect.

Lavar Wells, who runs Redtail Aviation, a company that runs sightseeing charters in Canyonlands, and also manages the Moab airport, said the subsidies have just become too costly and maybe the government needs more fiscal responsibility.

"I'm kind of a practical man. I grew up having to live on what I make. Nobody ever subsidized me anything, so I think differently," he said. "I realize if you don't put more money in the bank than you draw out you're not going to last long and our government is no different."