Airport Experience® News - ACDBE 2023

“Americans are paying the price of years of chronic underinvestment - in technology and staffing - by the federal government in our nation’s air travel system,” says U.S. Travel Association President and CEOGeoff Freeman. “Air travelers are right to be frustrated and to demand more from Washington.” Specifically, Freeman cites a lack of funding for the Federal Aviation Administration , insufficient funds for air traffic control staffing and increasing demands on FAA resources, including new technologies like drones and advanced air mobility. And the ACI-NA Airport Infrastructure Needs study released earlier this year pointed to myriad challenges. “In 2021, airports faced a backlog of planned and necessary infrastructure projects that totaled at least $115 billion,” the report notes. “Now, just two years later, airport infrastructure needs have swelled to $151 billion over the next five years. The total cost of these critical projects dwarfs the funding available through annual Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants, Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) user fee collections, grant funding available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and net income generated by airports. “Regulatory burdens that have hamstrung airports for decades continue to constrain the industry’s ability to invest in infrastructure,”

the report says. “And just like every other segment of the economy, airports have been impacted by inflation and the cost of infrastructure projects has skyrocketed.” Action Taken In an attempt to get ahead of potential problems, the FAA on May 1 activated 169 new routes along the East Coast that are more direct, a move the agency says will save passengers time, save fuel for airlines and increase safety. “These significant improvements to our national airspace system are just in time for summer and will help travelers get to their destinations more efficiently,” says TimArel, the chief operating officer of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization. “The new routes will reduce complexity and redistribute volume across all available airspace. The direct routes will shave off 40,000 miles and 6,000 minutes of travel time annually from being shorter in distance, the FAA says. The change helps prevent delays by giving the agency more capacity to direct traffic to specific routes based on the aircraft’s destination. When weather occurs, controllers will also have more flexibility. The new routes operate primarily above 18,000 feet in altitude along the East Coast, as well as offshore over the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

Passenger Airlines Quarterly Net Income. (billions of dollars).

$2.2B $2.4B $2.1B

-$2.2B

-$5.1B

2Q 2022

3Q 2022

4Q 2022

4Q 2021

1Q 2022

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics

In the First Three Months of 2023, TSA Checkpoint Volumes Fell Just 0.6% Below 2019 Levels March 2023 Traveler Throughput Fell 0.8% Below March 2019

TSA Traveler Throughput* (Millions)

40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2019

2022

2023

* U.S. and foreign carrier customers (excludes Known Crewmember ® personnel) traversing TSA checkpoints

Source: Transportation Security Administration

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