I hate to suggest it...but there are at least fifty airports in the US like the Johnstown airport. There are five airports in Alabama alone...that only function because of the various political games played and funding vehicles that keep the airports in full operation.
My hometown in the Shoals are switching their two flight a day deal (sponsored and paid for by the US government), from Memphis over to Atlanta. I’ve flown out of there around three times over fifteen years...with maybe half the seats filled out of a 20-pax plane.
Out of Huntsville...they run various flights which are never more than half full. They have a direct flight to DC each day...which typically has barely a third of the seats filled except Sunday evenings when its mostly full.
I think if you asked the Feds to explain how much money is paid out to small airports like this....it’d be up around $1 billion a year. This has been going on for years...sponsoring tiny airports which simply don’t have the population to support the airport.
Here's the WaPo article on it:
Nothing more than welfare for private pilots, who else has a hobby paid for by the tax payers. Do you know of any government funded drag race strips??