ACI-NA funding for airport infrastructure projects should be among topics of discussion

ACI-NA president says airport projects spur economic growth in local communities.

In a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Airports Council International-North America President Greg Principato urged the secretary to include funding for airport infrastructure projects as a key topic of discussion during the upcoming White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth.

In his letter to Secretary LaHood, Principato wrote: "Many local communities have seen the positive effects of the $1.1 billion in Airport Improvement Program funding included in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Airports worked with the FAA to move the money from Washington to the local communities quickly using a process that is well known and understood." Principato noted that by June 2009, the FAA reported that all but $5 million of the $1.1 billion appropriated had been authorized to 323 separate projects throughout the U.S.

Airport infrastructure projects help create construction jobs today, "while paving the way for job creation in the future," Principato said. In early 2009, the FAA noted there were $3 billion in shovel-ready AIP projects that could be completed in two years. In addition, the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems estimates that between 2009 and 2013 there are $49.7 billion in airport development projects eligible for AIP grants.

"Though the economic slowdown has impacted the entire aviation industry, airports continue to have a responsibility to maintain our facilities to meet passenger safety, security and capacity needs today as well as into the future," Principato said. "We are committed to making the necessary infrastructure investments to prepare for the expected 25 percent growth in service that the FAA predicts our industry will face by 2021 when it is estimated that one billion people will take to the sky."

Principato also noted that further investment in airport infrastructure would allow the industry to take steps to advance NextGen, the Next Generation Air Transportation System. Principato cited a 2008 Government Accountability Report that said airports will play a critical role in implementing infrastructure and procedural enhancements needed to meet capacity needs for the future.