THE YEAR 1978 proved to be one of the most influential in American aviation history. On October 24, President Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law. This gave airlines, and not the government, the power to set their fare structures and to select their routes. Fierce competition followed. Airline profits plummeted, and many airlines declared bankruptcy or went out of business altogether. As part of the act, the government ensured that certain cities unlikely to be profitable would keep their air service. Under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, which is still in effect today, the government subsides routes connecting these small cities to larger ones. It offers airlines of all sizes a chance to bid, considering the subsidy needed and the quality of service being offered. Within the contiguous United States, 106 airports are participants in the EAS. Many are located within the country's heartland, with over a quarter connecting to Denver, Colorado (DEN). Just 180 miles north of Denver lies the small town of Alliance, Nebraska. Its claim to fame is the Carhenge art installation, a replica of Stonehenge built with vintage American automobiles. The town was founded in the late 1800s as a stop on the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad. In 1942, the town boomed when the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) chose it as the location of the Alliance Army Airfield, a training facility for its World War Ⅱ operations.
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