What Trump's election might mean for US airports, infrastructure, ATC and their financing 2.0

Donald Trump's election to be the 47th US president will eventually, when the dust settles, raise questions about his government's stance on airport infrastructure and privatisation, and whether the national air traffic service should continue to be run by the FAA.

These topics are frequently raised in the US, where privatisation in particular is minimal. But they are not at the top of the new government's 'to do' list on 20-Jan-2025.

If, and when, the president gets round to them, he will recall that in 2018 he put forward some radical proposals to increase private investment in the sector, including major and positive changes to the privatisation programme.

Overall the results were not encouraging, airport leasing has died the death since 2020, and the government will have to focus more on public-private partnerships this time.

There are some suggestions, and they are reported here, as to how the system of tax free bonds could be allied to private investment, instead of being a negative factor in a calculation.

As for ATC, the time to at least corporatise it, if not outrightly to privatise it, has come. There is a consensus for funding reform.

But all of this is, at least on paper, dictated by the fact that no further FAA Reauthorisation Act is planned for another four years - if the new president gets serious about these issues, he will have to find a way around that.