After the abrupt cancellation of commercial air service, the US Department of Transportation received proposals from three other airlines to start service from Visalia using Essential Air Service (EAS) funding, but the community rejected the offers. The City stated in a letter, "Based on a thorough review of all proposals and consideration of industry trends and the recent history of declining air service performance in Visalia, it is the Council's belief that none of the carriers have a strong enough proposal to guarantee that Visalia would maintain eligibility in the EAS program."