Remains A Top Priority For The President In SOTU Speech

Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada, welcomed President Donald J. Trump's continued commitment to infrastructure in his State of the Union Address.

“We applaud President Trump for making America’s aging infrastructure a top national priority and support his call for bipartisan legislation to invest in vital national infrastructure projects,” said ACI-NA president and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “Airports are an essential component of our nation’s transportation infrastructure, but we are at risk of falling behind with more than $100 billion in infrastructure needs. Without any major update to funding options for airports in the last 20 years, it’s time for Washington to move forward with a sustainable and cost-effective plan that helps airports best address their needs locally. Airports will continue our work with the Trump Administration and Congress to advance an infrastructure plan that gives airports the resources necessary to meet the growing demands of the future with more efficient and modern facilities.”

According to ACI-NA:

• Airports are terminally challenged without funding relief.
• With a national economic impact of $1.4 trillion, airports contribute more than seven percent to the U.S. gross domestic product.
• Passenger and cargo traffic through airport facilities continues to grow at a record pace. Since 2002, passenger volume has increased by nearly 45 percent to 1.8 billion passengers.
• Far too many airports around the country are overcrowded and cramped. Sixty percent of airport infrastructure needs are within airport terminals.
• America’s airports can be rebuilt without raising taxes or adding to deficit spending by modernizing.

Modestly adjusting the outdated federal cap the locally set Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) user fee would allow airports to build appropriate facilities to meet travel demands and customer expectations, the group said in a news release. Modernizing the federal government’s PFC cap is the simplest and most free-market option for providing airports with the locally controlled self-help they need to finance vital infrastructure projects. That would allow airports of all sizes to reduce costs and start building essential infrastructure projects more quickly to meet the travel demands of today and the challenges of tomorrow.

(Source: ACI-NA news release)

FMI: www.aci-na.org