The airport industry is bracing for months, and perhaps years, of funding uncertainty.
When lawmakers in the House postponed July plans to introduce a funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration until at least September, they all but ensured that the agency will live paycheck to paycheck through at least one short-term extension of its existing authorization before any long-term funding is approved.
The $63 billion bill that was passed to support the FAA in 2012 expires Sept. 30, and many in the airport industry had hoped for a quick resolution this time around. The FAA’s last funding measure finally passed in 2012 after three years and 23 temporary extensions.
Hanging in the balance are funding for the Airport Improvement Program, which is financed through the FAA’s Airport & Airway Trust Fund; the airport industry’s petition for an increase in the current $4.50 cap on passenger facilities charges; and the future of the air traffic control program.
Many don’t foresee any speedy long-term action on reauthorization.
“The lay of the land, legislatively, is that this debate is going to continue for some time,” says Erik Hansen, senior director of domestic policy for the U.S. Travel Association. “I think we could see committee action this fall, but it’s becoming more and more likely that action on the House or Senate floor is going to be difficult to do in 2015.”
The current situation has prompted the airport industry to refocus its efforts, pushing for a longer-term extension while still stressing the need for a PFC cap increase.
Todd Hauptli, president and CEO of the American Association of Airport Executives, says he’s heard from the FAA that anything less than a six-month extension of the existing bill could stop grant money from flowing, hurting airports that need to do capital improvement projects.
“It will be important from an airport perspective that whatever extension comes, it be long enough in duration to ensure that the FAA will be able to issue grants and that we do not jeopardize a construction season,” he says.
George Kelemen, senior vice president of government and political affairs at Airports Council International-North America, also stresses the need for a longer extension of one to two years.
“The reason for that is to create and to continue to maintain some certainty for the Office of Airports and particularly the funding that that office administers to airports around the country,” he says.
The full article appears in the September print issue of Airport Revenue News. Click Here to subscribe.
