Joe Castellana usually plans for the worst when he travels from Provincetown, Massachusetts, at the tip of Cape Cod, to Boston. The 120-mile trip can take two hours on a good day — and far longer in summer traffic. By air it would be a 20-minute hop from the town’s small airport, but those scheduled passenger flights are available only part of the year.
Cape Air, the only carrier that served Provincetown Municipal Airport, ended year-round service to Boston two winters ago, saying the winter routes were not profitable. The town last month rejected a ballot measure that would have guaranteed Cape Air $332,000 in revenue through a property-tax-funded subsidy to restore off-season flights. With that proposal defeated, commercial service to Provincetown remains seasonal.
The local debate in Provincetown captures a broader national problem: many small, remote and seasonal communities lack reliable, year-round commercial air service. For places that are hard to reach by road, losing flights reduces convenience, economic opportunity and residents’ ability to access medical care, family and connecting flights.
Demand for small-market routes is often low and highly variable, which makes them tough for airlines to operate without support. “The challenge is really around the demand at acceptable revenue levels so that the service is sustainable,” said John Twiss, Cape Air’s vice president of planning. The Regional Airline Association reports that more than three-quarters of U.S. airports have cut flights in recent years and more than a dozen have lost commercial service entirely, a decline the group calls an “air service crisis.” That trend has multiple causes: lingering reductions in travel demand from the pandemic, a national pilot shortage, and higher costs for fuel, labor and maintenance.
In Provincetown’s campaign over the subsidy, residents split over who should shoulder the cost. Supporters argued that restoring year-round flights would help build a stable, off-season economy — supporting jobs for artists, fishermen and others who struggle in winter — and make the town a more viable year-round home.
“We lose a key part of our infrastructure when air service disappears,” said Town Manager Alex Morse. Proponents such as developer Christine Barker said year-round flights could attract winter conferences, weddings and retreats, generating steady revenue for local businesses.
Opponents rejected using property taxes to underwrite a private carrier. Longtime resident Catherine Skowron, now in nearby Truro, said she would not ask taxpayers to bankroll a private enterprise. Voter Tim Kanaley warned of a slippery slope in subsidizing seasonal businesses and said the flights tended to be pricey and appeal to wealthier visitors.
The town’s Finance Committee and its chairman, Mark Bjorstrom, framed the issue as a difference between public infrastructure investment and subsidizing private business. “If we were building another hangar or landing strip, that is infrastructure,” he said. “But that’s not what this is. This is a private enterprise that we would be subsidizing.”
Provincetown is also ineligible for the federal Essential Air Service (EAS) program, which subsidizes flights to more than 170 small communities, because it’s considered too close to Boston’s Logan Airport and a larger Cape Cod airport in Hyannis. The EAS program has long been controversial — critics point to low passenger numbers and high per-passenger subsidies on some routes — and federal proposals in recent years have targeted cuts. Still, some analysts argue EAS remains politically durable because it benefits constituents across many states.
Researchers say the reality is mixed. Tony Grubesic, a public policy professor, notes that some subsidized flights operate with very low load factors, raising questions about efficiency. Yet elected officials often defend the program because small airports can be important local economic assets and visible to voters.
With Cape Air’s service limited to May through early November, Provincetown’s alternative connections are also seasonal: ferries to Boston run in summer but stop in winter, and private aircraft remain an option for those who can afford them. After the subsidy vote failed, town leaders said they would pursue other funding sources, including a federal Small Community Air Service Development Program grant and state or regional assistance.
Locally, the loss of year-round flights has practical consequences. For people like Castellana and others who need to travel to Boston for medical appointments, work or to catch international connections, the absence of winter service adds hours to trips and complicates daily life. For businesses that rely on off-season visitors, the transport barrier makes scheduling weekend retreats or conferences less attractive.
Despite the setback at the ballot box, some residents remain active in efforts to restore more reliable service. Castellana joined the town’s Airport Commission as a volunteer, arguing that consistent flights would help stabilize the local economy and create year-round employment.
Provincetown’s experience illustrates the tough choices small communities face: pay to subsidize private carriers, hope for federal support that may be limited or politically fraught, or accept reduced connectivity and the economic consequences that follow. For many remote towns, the question of whether to drive five hours or fly 20 minutes is less rhetorical than a pressing matter of daily life and local survival.