Many FBOs are eager to provide additional financial investments at airports, but believe there is a need for longer term leases. At the same time, airports must ensure their customers and community receive proper services in an environment that facilitates competition and fair market pricing.  Moderator Dave Edwards, CEO, Greenville/Spartanburg International Airport, posed many questions to the panel members.

Is federal legislation needed for airports and FBOs to have a good working relationship?

• Federal legislation is not necessary because the airport, local community and FBO can make good decisions with open and transparent discussions.  Bruce Frallic, Gulfport/Biloxi International Airport
• Legislation isn’t needed, as his company currently maintains good working relationships with all their airport managers. There is a correct approach is for airports and FBOs to agree on best practices and work together. FBO panelist Jeff Ross, Ross Aviation.
  
• It would benefit the industry to create standard practices and guidelines for which FBOs could work with airports. Jim Hopkins, Landmark Aviation.
• There is no need for legislation as it would create almost a permanent right for FBOs to operate at an airport. The local ability to issue RFPs and compete for leases is crucial. Janet Schafer, Houston Airports System
• There is already a system in place to resolve issues through FAA grant assurances and the ability to establish leases up to a maximum of 50 years. There is already a fairly set of rules with 130 specific state statutory provisions addressing airport lease terms.  If Congress were to tinker with lease terms it would be yet another example of the federal government intruding into airport proprietor rights. Dan Reimer, attorney, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell.

What are two ways for airports and FBOs to be more successful?

• Frallic: The need for open collaboration that ultimately leads to an agreement.
• Ross: Airport need to reach out with constructive criticism so FBOs can deliver the best product possible.
• Schafer: The need to increase non-airline revenue and the possibility to explore revenue sharing with FBOs.
• Reimer: The industry could benefit from more collaboration and also reiterated that best practices should be voluntary.

Garry Ridge, President & CEO of The WD 40 Company and co-author of the book Helping People Win at Work, will address attendees Oct. 18 at the Airports Council International-North America’s (ACI-NA) 20^th Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego. Ridge, leader of a successful publicly-traded corporation, will provide airport officials insight on how to build organizational capability to address current and future challenges. 

“Like all complex businesses, airports must hire the right people and ensure they have the right resources to ensure world class efficiency and customer service for airports users,” said ACI-NA  President Greg Principato. “Garry’s insights will be valuable for everyone in the airport industry.”

The ACI-NA conference will be held Oct. 16-19 at the San Diego Convention Center. Pre-conference seminars featuring in-depth information on airport finances, operations, information technology, legal issues and environmental challenges will also be held Oct. 15 – 16.

This event will bring together approximately 1,800 industry leaders from airports, airlines, and government, as well as executives from associate member companies.

“Prior to the conference, aviation officials will have the unique opportunity to learn about the most critical issues facing all aspects of the airport business at the pre-conference seminars,” said Principato.

Pre-conference highlights of interest to the media:

Environmental Affairs

• Turn Out the Lights When You Leave! Innovative Energy Efficiency Measures at Airports
• If You Can’t Stand the Heat—Managing Risks Climate Change Poses to Airport Facilities
  

Business Information Technology

• Passenger Self-Tagging of Baggage- U.S. Trial Update
• Cyber-Security at Airports
  

Operations & Technical Affairs

• Keeping Your Terminal Running – Passenger Processing Automation & In-Line Baggage Screening Recapitalization: Where Are We Now?
• Retain, Rehabilitate Or Rebuild – Airport Asset Management and its Importance In An Era Of Uncertainty
  

Legal Affairs

• Airport Security, featuring TSA Chief Counsel Francine Kerner
• Meet The FAA Chief Counsel, featuring FAA Acting Chief Counsel Mark Warren

Visit the conference site for the complete program.

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) President Greg Principato today wrote to Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urging him to fully fund the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) in the DOT’s FY 2013 proposed budget.

In his letter, Principato noted that “AIP is funded by the passengers who use the system for the purpose of ensuring safe and secure airport facilities”. He also stressed that AIP clearly meets the criteria of “investing in those areas critical to job creation and economic growth” discussed in Office of Management and Budget Director Lew’s August 17 memo” and urged Secretary LaHood to “identify AIP as a “priority investment” given the program’s excellent track record over the last two years in spurring economic growth and creating jobs in large and small communities.”

]]> http://www.aci-na.org/blog/2011/08/23/aci-na-urges-secretary-lahood-to-fully-fund-aip-in-fy-2013-budget/feed/ 0 http://www.aci-na.org/blog/2011/08/19/faa-shutdown-impact-houston/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=faa-shutdown-impact-houston http://www.aci-na.org/blog/2011/08/19/faa-shutdown-impact-houston/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:13:52 +0000 jrubel http://www.aci-na.org/blog/?p=2113 By Mario C. Diaz, Director of Aviation

Thanks to the efforts of a great many people, we have averted an extended FAA shutdown through the peak of the construction season.  During the two-week limited FAA operations, Houston faced the immediate cessation of work on our new TRACON facility and an installation project for runway status lights — both key projects.  Once completed, our new TRACON will control air traffic over 16,000 square miles of airspace, handling 900,000 individual aircraft operations.  The state-of-the-art equipment will facilitate implementation of NextGen technologies, further securing Houston’s position as one of the world’s safest, secure and accessible airport destinations.  The new facility is the product of a decade of planning by both the FAA and Congress, and it was very troubling to see the construction site go silent as the shutdown occurred. It’s in the public’s interest for airport infrastructure projects to move forward.

In addition to concerns over ongoing projects and the impact on workers, the considerable uncertainty regarding restoration of full FAA operations gave us grave concerns about the potential impact of a long term shutdown, (including about damage to the aviation trust fund). We are relieved and appreciate the recent action for the extension bill.  I can’t thank our Congressional delegation enough for their stellar support and their efforts to help bring this about, and I’m especially proud and appreciative of Houston Mayor, Annise Parker, for her impressive leadership to secure a resolution.

However, the events that led to the shutdown and what they portend for the future are especially troubling.  Knowing that the contentious issues related to long term FAA authorization remain, we are very concerned that in just a few weeks we may be back to the situation we faced a few weeks ago.  It’s essential that we all keep up communications with our respective Congressional delegations and urge them to make passage of a long term reauthorization bill a top priority when they return to Washington after Labor Day – after all, there will be only a few days remaining before the recently passed extension expires.  Given the advance planning requirements that are a fact of life at airports, we cannot go on functioning efficiently and effectively when funding availability is always in crisis mode.  I hope that all airports will join me and ACI-NA in helping to push through a long term bill when Congress returns.

Achieving that would give us some short term relief and some breathing room.  It’s clear a new world order has arrived. We’d better start dealing with the current and future realities.  Most importantly, airports need to start taking greater charge of their own financial destinies, in recognition that whatever happens in Congress, we cannot assume that adequate federal funding will be available.  The writing is on the wall; if anyone needed further evidence of that, the recent downgrade of the United States’ credit provides certain proof.

Where do we go from here?  How do we achieve true self-sustainability?  It won’t happen overnight. We need to start planning for it now.   It’s essential that everyone understands and appreciates the critical role that airports play in the local, regional, national and international economies.

In Houston, our three airports are responsible for nearly 231,000 jobs and have an economic impact on our region of $27 billion.  But how often do you hear a (non-airport) person talk about how much they appreciate the opportunities that airports create?  Overall, airlines have done a better job than have airports in helping people understand the value they create – want to visit the Caribbean for some R&R? XYZ airline will take you there. Want that package there overnight?  XYZ express carrier will have it delivered in the morning.  But those trips could not take place without the extraordinary facilities that airports (and our terrific employees) provide – and those facilities also create jobs, help send construction workers home with paychecks, support small businesses, and send ripples of economic benefits locally, regionally, nationally and globally.

In Houston, our airports are truly a gateway to the world for passengers, shippers and the global business marketplace – from just IAH alone nearly 175 international and domestic destinations are reachable nonstop – the options available are extraordinary.  Our metropolitan area is so large that if it were a state it would rank as the nation’s 19^th largest. Houston’s region’s GDP is larger than that of 85 percent of the world’s countries.  It’s in significant part because we are a dynamic global gateway that Houston and Texas are leading the nation’s economic recovery.  As the fastest growing metro area, we are blessed with the nation’s largest employment gains; the highest retail employment growth since the recession; more manufacturing jobs; and the highest level of entrepreneurial activity. We’re located at the heart of a state that ranks #1 in multiple economic indicators, including most new jobs, the largest increase in population, and the strongest economy.  Our airports are essential players in enabling the global reach of our community and in these strong economic indicators.

And, large or small, to a degree every airport in the country also serves as that essential gateway to the world. It’s time we spread that message and enhanced the overall understanding of just how critical airports are to the health and growth of our communities and our economies.  Houston is here to support all other gateways as the largest hub for the largest airline in the world and our nation’s airports depend on each other to connect the traveling public.

America needs to start looking differently at the degree of allowing airports to control their own funding.  Airports have long labored under burdensome restrictions that hinder our ability to achieve true financial self-sufficiency.  We all understand the need for certain restrictions, and of course safety must always be paramount.  If future federal funding is severely limited; we need to have the tools to have more local control over our own affairs.  We need to preserve the aviation trust fund and ensure that it is used effectively.  We need to revisit the fundamentals of our relationships with the federal government.  We need to forge new partnerships with our airline colleagues and our investors and contractors.  We need to restructure and enhance our options on airport privatization, and create a new vision that fits into and benefits from our new world order.  Our nation is in crisis and our airports have a key role to play in jump-starting the recovery.  For that we’ll need an effective Congress, a robust FAA, long term reauthorization, and plenty of creativity on the part of airports.

Let’s all work hard in the coming weeks to get long term reauthorization addressed effectively and quickly, and let’s also start devoting our energies to a new airport vision for the future.

To meet the congressionally-mandate related to Runway Safety Areas, we have been working very closely with the FAA to prepare the necessary documents to move forward with these needed safety improvements.   Specifically we have been working very hard on the preparation of the necessary environmental documentation to perform this safety related work.  We are dependent upon the FAA’s timely document review and input in order to be eligible for needed federal funds and to meet the 2012 construction season.

To meet security and growth needs at BWI Marshall we also are moving aggressively to provide a new security checkpoint and secure airside connector between two of our Concourses.  We have been working with our tenant airlines and the FAA on a PFC application to support these needed improvements.  If this process is slowed down due to any disruption in FAA’s involvement in the project, we again put at risk the 2012 construction season for this vital project for security and growth at BWI Marshall Airport.

We are grateful our nation’s leadership did the right thing and passed the 21st short term FAA extension that returned thousands of people to work.  It is unfortunate that the aviation system suffered a two-week shutdown of FAA and approximately $400 million in lost revenue before it was accomplished.  It is also unfortunate that thousands of FAA personnel and many contractor employees and others associated with delayed projects had their livelihood so adversely impacted.

Tucson Airport

It is absolutely imperative that Congress resolve their differences and pass a long term bill to fund FAA which will keep critical aviation infrastructure projects going and workers employed when they come back from their recess.  The system cannot afford another shutdown.

The impact to Tucson is that Tucson International Airport is awaiting a final grant to begin a $10 million reconstruction project involving its crosswind runway and associated taxiways.  This project has a critical path schedule due to weather and operational constraints.  Further delays in receiving the remaining grant would result in missing the construction window and delaying the project start until next year.  In addition, this project is expected to employ approximately 50 high-paid construction personnel.  At Tucson’s reliever airport, Ryan Airfield, the shutdown has delayed the purchase and installation of emergency standby generators, which will protect the tower, airfield, and landside from disruption of power.  Several planning projects in various stages were shut down due to FAA personnel furloughs.  Additionally, the environmental work that had just begun on a replacement for TUS’ aging Air Traffic Control Tower was suspended.

As we await the summer recess for negotiations to begin again, we ask that Congress consider the losses that have already occurred and come together on a new FAA reauthorization measure that removes the constant uncertainty for long-term operations.

The Furlough…How did it play in Peoria? Pretty poorly!  The recent FAA shutdown places new emphasis on the need for stable funding for the FAA over a multi-year period.  Only with stable funding can disruptions be avoided and planning be accomplished for the capital development of our nation’s air transportation system, from the major hubs right down to the regional airports.

Peoria felt the impact of the shutdown even before it happened.  When the political climate a week before the shutdown looked like a deal would not be reached in time, the first casualty Peoria felt was an interruption of a site selection study for a new air traffic control tower.  Peoria just opened a new terminal building in April, and the old terminal stands in the way of full use of the new building.  The old terminal houses the air traffic control tower, and the building is 52 years old and in bad shape.  We can’t fully demolish the old building until a new tower is constructed.  The old building is costing the airport authority money, with an estimated one third of the airport’s total electrical usage still consumed by the mostly vacated old terminal.

The site selection process for developing a new tower is a three step process.  This process is conducted at the Airways Facilities Tower Integration Lab (AFTIL) at the FAA Tech Center in Atlantic City, NJ.  The first step is a week-long visit to the AFTIL, using a digital model of the airport to select three or four potential sites (we looked at fourteen and narrowed it to four).  The second step is an analysis by FAA engineers of the feasible sites, which can take about 6 months, and then determine the estimated cost at each site.  The final step is a second visit to the AFTIL, which for Peoria was scheduled to take place July 25 – 29.  This visit was cancelled the week prior to the shutdown, because it looked certain that the AFTIL staff would be furloughed.  The estimate at the time of cancellation was that rescheduling would probably not be possible before September.

The FAA shutdown also impacted the Airport Authority’s project to partially demolish the old terminal and renovate the HVAC systems still supporting the FAA tower operation.  We had hoped to take bids to do this work on September 1, after review by FAA staffers in late July or early August.  The furlough has pushed this back to the end of August, because there was no one working at the FAA to review the plans.  This has pushed back our ability to start the project until October, which means that the HVAC renovations will take place during the heating season instead of during milder weather.

An additional impact was felt on PIA’s planned project to rehabilitate the approach ends of Runways 13 and 4, scheduled for FY 2011.  Due to the furlough, no FAA employees were at work in the Chicago Airports District Office to process grant paperwork or to issue new grants.  The impact of the shutdown on this project has put finances in question and will likely delay the start of construction until next year.

Even projects that were not funded by FAA were impacted by the shutdown.  The Air National Guard has had a presence on the Peoria International Airport since just after World War II.  One older portion of the old base had an area contaminated with petroleum products and the ANG has funded a project to remove contaminated soil and replace it with clean fill.  Just before the shutdown, the Guard contacted the Airport Authority about a new, more efficient way to bring trucks on and off the site.  This new routing was not in the original plans and might require a new airspace determination from the ADO.  Since there was no one at work to ask the question, the contractor has had to delay the start of earthmoving.  This delay may push the project into next year, with uncertain consequences.

Even a shutdown of only two weeks has had a very significant negative impact on the Peoria International Airport, costing us significant local dollars that won’t be replaced by any grants.  My hat is off to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood for his constant drumbeat of support for getting Congress to extend the FAA’s authorization, and his support of long term FAA funding.  Only with stability and assured multi-year funding mechanisms will our industry be able to resume planning for capital development programs and financing.

Brad Penrod, Executive Director/CEO

The impact on PIT of the FAA shutdown was the postponement of the rehabilitation of RWY 10C-28C that was estimated at $8.4 million.  This project, which included improvements and suggestions from many sectors of the aviation community, FAA, flight crews, Airport Authority Maintenance, Engineering and Operations professionals, was agreed by all, including the airlines, to be the critical project for the year.

For an $8.4 million project, estimated to last six months, and assuming an “average” salary of all direct and indirect labor involved, including all overhead and benefits of $80K or $40K for 6 months, means $8.4MM / $40K = 210 jobs or  approximately 100 direct jobs and 100 indirect jobs were potentially impacted by the delay or possible cancellation of the project.

At the Allegheny County Airport, there is a significant corporate tenant that was scheduled to start a multi-million dollar renovation to their hangar, which has some historic significance to the airport.  The FAA had received the required documentation requesting the work be approved, but due to the shutdown the FAA review was unable to proceed as planned, thus costing delays and the loss of approximately 50 construction jobs.

We would be so happy to have the freedom to run the business of airports like business, along with the required funding that is reviewed on an annual basis with the carriers.  Maybe our Canadian friends have it right!

Oh well, I guess we can always issue new debt…

Thank goodness for grownups in Washington; Senator Jay Rockefeller and Senate leaders took the high road, or in this case, the high runway, in the dispute with the House of Representatives over the FAA continuing resolution and averted a month long disaster.  The failure of the House of Representatives to negotiate in good faith on the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization before they took a month long recess is nothing less than a dereliction of duty.  The Republican majority in the House of Representatives has decided to place politics above the safety of the national air transportation system.

It is unfathomable that members of the House considered enjoying a month long vacation while hard working Americans were sent home without a paycheck.  More than 4,000 FAA employees were furloughed and more than 70,000 construction workers were sent home, unable to continue working on important safety improvements at our nation’s airports.  The FAA has enjoyed broad bi-partisan support over the years and the House Majority Leadership failed to exert influence on the freshmen members of the House to respect the legislative process and allow complicated work of law making to proceed as it is intended.  (Sam Rayburn or Joseph Cannon would have never put up with such blatant disregard for the legislative process by members of their own party).

The lapse of the authorization of the FAA resulted in the elimination of tax collections that fund the aviation trust fund.  It is estimated that $30,000,000 per day of lost revenue to the trust fund is a result of the House not doing the work they are paid to do.  Some may say that a tax holiday is a good thing for the traveling public; however, the airlines wasted no time in raising ticket prices so that they could pocket any tax savings that the air traveling public would receive.  I hope that Congress remembers that stunt the next time the ATA whines around about a modest increase in the PFC.

The funding for the FAA is a textbook example of how some of the freshman Republicans would desire to see government operate, that is only the user pays for the services and the revenue is deposited in a Trust Fund and only used for the intended purpose.  It is ironic that they chose the FAA and the Aviation Trust Fund to make a political statement.

Specifically, the shutdown of the FAA had the following affects at Yeager Airport: 1.) The runway extension will not be completed until the funding is restored. 2.) The approach lights will not be operational until inspected by the FAA. 3.) Nine residences that are under contract to purchase by the airport to make way for an important safety improvement to the approach and departure path will be delayed.  These taxpayers are already having their lives disrupted by having to move from their homes and now the federal government has defaulted on their faith, and they will remain in limbo until funding is restored.

Two weeks of the FAA being shut down was two weeks too many.  I hope that it never happens again; however, I am not optimistic given the new normal in Washington.  I understand that there are legitimate policy differences between the Senate and the House; however, those policy debates are best conducted in the time tested and effective legislative process of conference committees and not in a hostage negotiation.

ACI-NA President Greg Principato

Thank goodness the FAA shutdown is over (for now).  This self-inflicted wound put more than 74,000 people out of work; delayed needed airport infrastructure and safety projects, some until next year’s construction season; and pushed NextGen further into Never NeverGen land.  During the shutdown I often recalled a line I penned for the 1993 report of the National Commission to Ensure a Strong Competitive Airline Industry, that aviation is the only industry whose day-to-day efficiency is capped by the day-to-day efficiency of the federal government.  This reality has never been clearer than it is right now.

The shutdown was the culmination of four years of temporary extensions during which the Airport Improvement Program lurched forward in spurts leaving the FAA unable to release needed grant money in a timely way, resulting in delayed and cancelled projects.  Add to that the impact of the financial crisis on the market for airport bonds, the expiration of the AMT waiver for public purpose bonds and now the U.S.  government’s credit downgrade which is likely to raise borrowing costs for airports.  The federal government’s…ahem…inefficiency, means that investment in aviation infrastructure in this country is being impeded, even reduced.  This at a time when our competitors around the world are moving in the opposite direction.

And all because the nation’s airports operate under an onerous, Nixon-era, regulatory framework dominated by federal influence.  The financial regulatory framework under which airports operate dates from the days when the federal government told the airlines where to fly and how much to charge, and   when someone actually thought wage and price controls were a good idea.   The events of these past couple of weeks demonstrate just how stupid that is.

It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.  In their “Falling Apart and Falling Behind” report, Building America’s Future noted that The World Economic Forum ranks U.S. air transport infrastructure 32nd in the world, behind countries like Panama, Chile, and Malaysia.

Liberals in our country argue for more investment in infrastructure.  Tea Party conservatives argue for less interference from Washington in our economic lives.  The way airports must operate satisfies neither, we have declining investment and way too much federal involvement.  But we have a solution that can satisfy both – get the federal government out of the business of limiting how airports can raise and spend resources to meet their needs.  The federal government tells airports they can charge only a limited user fee and limits how it can be spent.  Yet, this is the very mechanism used around much of the world.  The current system makes airports of all sizes too dependent on federal funds, which are raised by the very ticket tax that temporarily expired when the FAA shut down.  Give airports the option to determine their own user fee, and how to use those funds.  Market forces will ensure the fee is sustainable; no community will want to charge a fee so high it will lose air service.  By doing so, we can take another look at the current tax and grant program and make adjustments to both.

If we do this, we will remove federal domination of airport finance and infrastructure investment, assuring more local control.  We can promote additional, needed improvements in infrastructure and keep our edge in this increasingly global industry.  We can reduce federal spending and taxes, better focusing both on critical needs going forward such as truly building a next generation ATC system, and providing resources in smaller communities that may continue to need assistance.

This type of system would benefit our country, our economy, passengers and, I would argue, the airlines.  In fact, that is why airlines around the world have argued for such an approach; U.S. carriers are the last holdouts.  The FAA shutdown should provide all the evidence we need that we cannot continue to shackle airports’ ability to finance needed projects.  Anyone who cannot see that probably can’t see the “E” at the top of an eye chart.  Or maybe doesn’t want to open their eyes to reality.

Larry D. Cox, President and CEO Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority

If Congress moves forward expeditiously, either during the recess or upon their return in early September, and funds the balance of fiscal year 2011 AIP program, the impact can be reasonably mitigated.  However, as a dual passenger and cargo hub, and the world’s second largest cargo airport, continued delay beyond September or a loss of the balance of fiscal year 2011 AIP funds could be catastrophic and significantly impact our current and future capital development plans.   The ability of MEM to continue to grow the $28 billion of economic impact to the region will be greatly impacted.

Gina Marie Lindsey, Executive Director, Los Angeles World Airports

When I spoke at a luncheon of the Aero Club of Washington two weeks ago, I spoke about the great work we’re doing to improve LAX, as well as the looming failure of our nation’s system for funding aviation infrastructure.  Three days later, Congress underlined my woeful prediction by failing to take care of the simplest of needs, failing to take an action that it managed to do twenty times since 2007 and failing to pass an extension of FAA authorization.

I would like to applaud Senator Barbara Boxer for being a champion for airports on the Senate floor and asking her colleagues to do what was simple and necessary – approving a clean extension of the FAA authorization bill.  I’d also like to thank the Senator for hosting a conference call last week with a large number of aviation stakeholders to learn how this impacts the nation on many levels.  Federal employees were not working, contractors were shut down, and revenues for aviation infrastructure were being waived off to the tune of $200 million per week.

In Los Angeles, construction work proceeded as planned, but the shutdown presented challenges for the airport.  Key FAA employees were furloughed, and we were not able to get resolution of certain regulatory, engineering, and planning issues that were confronting our construction crews.  As the shutdown continued, the situation grew more problematic.  It could have delayed our starting key runway lighting and taxiway projects that are essential safety elements of our construction program.

And it’s not just airport projects that were impacted.  The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is in the final stages of designing its light rail Crenshaw Line.  Because the Crenshaw line crosses the ILS glide slope just outside the airport boundary, Metro has been working with FAA engineers to agree on a design and specifications that will allow Metro to build a light rail line that complies with FAA’s safety requirements.  FAA staff furloughs brought these discussions to a standstill at a key point in Metro’s design process, and this public transit project risked falling off schedule.

While the Senate has now just passed the House extension, it’s clear we will be facing the same seemingly intractable political tensions in mid-September, when the newly passed extension expires…again.  This is the time for airports, airlines, manufacturers and labor interests to collectively craft a new funding structure that is predictable, sustainable and minimizes continued vulnerability to politicizing the core stability of this industry.

Struggling to find the right adjectives to describe Congress’ decision to leave town before passing an FAA extension?  You’re in luck because a Washington Post/Pew Research Center poll regarding the recent debt ceiling crisis gives you lots of choices.

Unlike the debt ceiling crisis, the FAA reauthorization debacle has claimed very real victims already.

They’re the FAA employees who don’t know when their next paycheck will be coming.

They’re airports that don’t know when they’ll get needed FAA approvals and funding critical safety and capacity improvements.

They’re hard-working men and women who have seen their job sites shut down.

They’re all of us who depend on our National Air Transportation System to do business, take vacations, and visit our families and loved ones.

Congress, do you think that the $200 million a week that we’re losing in revenue will be magically replaced at the end of this crisis?  Do you think that shutting down job sites in the midst of the most protracted recession in modern American history makes any sense whatsoever?  Do you think that you’ve given talented professionals any reason to work for the FAA in the future?

Stop this insanity.  Stop it now.  Get back to work and pass an extension.

Due to congressional disagreement on how to extend authorization funding, the FAA remains partially shut-down.  At the heart of the disagreement are programmatic changes to the Department of Transportation’s Essential Air Service program.

When Congress first began debate on whether to deregulate the airline industry in the late 1970s, several lawmakers were concerned about the prospect of allowing carriers to terminate scheduled air service without government approval.  As a result, they feared that communities with relatively lower traffic levels would lose service entirely as carriers shifted their operations to larger and more financially lucrative markets.  To address these concerns, the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 created the EAS program to ensure that communities retain a connection to the national air transportation system.  Interestingly enough, any community receiving schedule air service from a certificated carrier on October 24, 1978, was eligible for EAS.

Over the past three decades the eligibility rules governing the EAS program have changed.  Today the EAS program ensures a safety net level of access, through federal subsidies, for smaller communities that would otherwise not receive scheduled air service.

Currently, communities are only eligible to receive subsidized air service through the EAS program if they are further than 70 driving miles of an FAA designated large or medium hub airport OR if their subsidy per passenger does not exceed $200 (annual subsidy level divided by annual passengers generated).  Communities more than 210 driving miles from the nearest medium or large hub airport are exempt from the $200 per passenger subsidy.

Who exactly receives the EAS subsidy from the department?  The answer is simple: the contracted air carrier serving the EAS community, not the airport.  DOT pays the contracted air carrier on a per flight completed basis.  At the end of each month, the air carrier submits claims for the prior month based on the number of completed fights (in conformance with the DOT/air carrier contract).

Returning to the current stalemate on Capitol Hill and the EAS program.  The House passed FAA Reauthorization extension (#21 might I add), H.R. 2253, would limit EAS eligibility to communities that are located 90 or more miles from a large or medium hub airport. It also includes a waiver should the DOT Secretary determine that geographic characteristics result in undue difficulty accessing the nearest large or medium hub airport.  Additionally, the bill would set a subsidy cap of $1,000 per passenger for communities more than 210 driving miles from the nearest medium or large hub airport.  This would specifically affect three airports currently receiving EAS funding including Ely, Nev.; Alamogordo, N.M. and Glendive, Mont..

While ACI-NA remains neutral on the specific EAS provisions in the House-passed extension, we are asking that Congress pass an FAA extension now.  Otherwise, the Aviation Trust Fund will continues to lose over $200 million a week and critical safety and security projects will continued to be cancelled or deferred.

Secretary LaHood, we here at ACI-NA applaud all your efforts to convince Congress to put the FAA back to work by passing a simple extension.  But we think the fact that Congress left town without ensuring funding for the FAA is more than a shame, it’s downright irresponsible.

Congress left for vacation leaving airports, FAA employees and the construction industry up the proverbial creek without a paddle.  Airports, large and small, are left without the funding needed to move forward on approved safety and security construction projects; projects which in the majority of cases have already been put out to bid.    This doesn’t include the 200 projects where stop work orders that have left construction sites at airports empty and construction crews without paychecks.

You noted we’re already in the middle of the construction season but for many airports in the northern tier the construction season is nearly over and will be by the time Congress returns to work in September.  Glacier International in Montana needed their Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funds by August 1 so their runway project is now pushed back a year and at Denver International Airport snow season beings September 15^th.

Congress’ leaving for vacation without ensuring airports had access to AIP funds means that design and construction workers and contractors won’t have jobs.  In fact 220 construction jobs will not be created at Fresno’s Yosemite International because Congress left for vacation without finishing their job! That’s 220 jobs lost in an area where the unemployment rate is 16.8 percent!

Then there are the everyday things that the aviation industry relies on the FAA and its employees for – like approval for environmental and noise projects.  Nothing sexy or press worthy there but it has a direct impact on the ability of every airport in this country to do their jobs.

It’s bad enough that Congress is enjoying vacation while FAA employees worry about how to pay the bills but Congress also left town without protecting the aviation trust fund.  When the FAA’s operating authority expired so did its ability to collect taxes so the money passengers pay to help maintain the system when they buy their tickets is no longer collected.  It is estimated that $1.2 billion that should have gone into the trust fund to be used to maintain and improve the aviation system will instead end up lining the pockets of the airlines – to the tune of $25 million a day – who raised their fares when the ticket tax expired.