A federal program to subsidize air travel to rural areas will run out of funding by Sunday unless the government shutdown ends, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday, predicting other interruptions to air service if the standoff wears on.

The loss of funding for the Essential Air Service, which pays subsidies to commercial airlines to maintain flights at smaller airports that might otherwise lose service, is poised to become the first aviation-related effect passengers feel as a result of the shutdown that began Wednesday.

"There's many small communities across the country that will now no longer have the resources to make sure they have air service in their communities," Duffy told reporters, noting that "every state across the country will be impacted" if the program's coffer

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