Airport Experience News Fall 2022

An increase in or elimination of the cap on Passenger Facility Charges will remain they key goal for airport trade associations as they gear up to advocate for the next round of airport funding. The PFC program allows commercial service airports to impose a fee against enplaning passengers for the purpose of funding approved projects at that airport. The fees are capped at $4.50 per flight segment, and the cap hasn’t been adjusted in more than 20 years. With the need for capital investment in terminals and other infrastructure burgeoning, and with the purchasing power of the PFC worn away by 20 years of inf lation, airports will be pushing hard to convince members of Congress that an increase is necessary. Pushing back, though, will be the airlines, which as a group have long fought against any increase in the PFC cap.

“There are certainly challenges to getting Congress to adjust the PFC and the hurdles have not gone away,” says Joel Bacon, executive vice president, government and public affairs for the American Association of Airport Executives , adding that “I don’t think the airlines will be supportive.” Nevertheless, the PFC cap increase remains the goal for both AAAE and Airports Council International-North America , which typically work side-by side in lobbying efforts for funding. And according to ACI-NA’s 2021 Infrastructure Report, the need for funding is dire. Some alternative funding has come to the fore recently, nevertheless “chronic under f unding,” coupled with the devastating losses suffered by airports during the pandemic, means that airports face a backlog of about $115 in planned and much-needed infrastructure projects, the report said. Both ACI-NA and AAAE have

Above: Airports across the United States are renovating and expanding their airport terminals (rendering for T1 at San Diego International Airport pictured). Funding is a perennial problem, and efforts are again underway to convince Congress of the need for more.

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