The terminal at Grant County Regional Airport.

JOHN DAY — A new funding source may make flights to and from Grant County a reality.

A meeting here April 6 conducted by the State Department of Aviation to discuss the possibility of establishing commercial air service in rural communities drew 16 people from John Day, Baker and La Grande.

House Bill 2075, passed in 2015, raised the jet fuel tax from 1 cent to 3 cents a gallon, with a portion of proceeds earmarked to help smaller airports set up commercial service. It could lead to service here in the next year or so.

“It’s going to be a huge benefit to rural airports like Grant County,” said airport manager Patrick Bentz.

He said several clusters of people who would likely have an interest in the service were identified at the meeting, including local business people, residents in general, government employees and veterans traveling to and from doctors appointments and tourists.

Bentz said four communities, including John Day, Burns, Baker and La Grande, would need to be incorporated in order to make the plan work.

So far, one air service, a licensed and qualified company from Medford, has shown an interest in providing the flights.

Bentz said the service in John Day would not be traditional.

Airport security would have a reverse screening process, Instead of having TSA screen passengers before boarding locally, passengers would be screened at their destinations.

Flights would likely not be available every day, but have slots open on certain days, or a book of tickets could be used.

“There are many different options that we’re looking at,” Bentz said.

There are a few questions that Bentz and the Grant County Airport Commission have for the public to help guide decisions in the matter.

“We want to know if people are interested, how much they’re willing to pay for tickets, where they want to fly and how frequently they would use the service,” he said.

Bentz said locals shouldn’t expect the commercial air service available next month, but “at least in the next year.”

Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, said regular air service would be a boon to Grant and surrounding counties.

“Time and distances are always factors in business decisions, but those issues could become manageable if passenger and air freight service is available at state airports,” he said. “Imagine how different our business recruitment conversations would be if we could tell potential employers they can rely on scheduled air services for products and people to and from other destinations across the region?”

Ferrioli compared funding of rural air service to the financial support the state gives to commuter rail services in the I-5 corridor.

“I’ve been meeting with regional airport managers and economic development partners asking for a feasibility study to determine how much it would cost to provide regular, scheduled air service to state airports across all our rural areas,” he said. “If we can do that for rail passengers and freight from Eugene to Portland, why can’t we do it for small businesses willing to locate in rural Oregon?”