ACI-NA's Principato Details Airports' Needs in Reauthorization

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation held a hearing on Feb.11 on HR 915, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2009.  The bill, similar to the one passed by the House in the last Congress, provides an increase in the airport Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) from the current ceiling of $4.50 to $7; authorizes additional funds for airport runway incursion reduction programs and the acquisition and installation of runway status lights; increases the amount authorized for Essential Air Service each year from $127 million to $200 million; and extends the Small Community Air Service Development Program through FY2001 at the current authorized funding level of $35 million per year. The committee has announced plans to complete work on the bill and bring it to the House floor for a vote before March 31, the date the current FAA authority expires.

ACI-NA President Greg Principato, testified at the hearing, calling for an increase in the PFC to at least $7.50 and indexing it for inflation. He also thanked the committee for its efforts to pass a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill which is necessary to put an end to the "forced delays in essential infrastructure projects as airports have been unable to make the investments necessary to improve safety and security and to relieve passenger delays and congestion.”

Other issues discussed in the hearing included airport environmental improvement plans and the development and deployment of Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) improvements. Principato also expressed the concerns of ACI-NA members about proposals to mandate specific rescue and fire fighting standards at airports, which he explained would dramatically increase equipment and staffing requirements for airports, thereby resulting in expanded operating costs.