USA Today reports on a new trend towards private encouragement of airline service to small communities. Government subsidies didn’t work well because they failed to match the desire for air service with passenger demand for travel, and airlines wound up eating subsidy money and pulling service when the subsidies dried up. Now companies are getting together to decide what kind of air service they need and guaranteeing business up front, reducing the risk to an airline starting service. This private cooperative solution may be the way of the future for luring air service to smaller airports.