Organization Supports Even Higher PFCs In Bill
On Wednesday, Airports Council International-North America
(ACI-NA) called the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA)
draft reauthorization legislation a good start for the airport
industry, but more work is necessary to enable airports to continue
funding local improvements which will accommodate future growth and
enhance the efficiency of passenger and cargo service.
"We’re happy that the FAA included elements that ACI-NA
has been advocating for reauthorization, such as an increase in the
cap on the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), streamlined
administration of PFCs and allowing market-based measures to govern
congestion management," said ACI-NA President Greg Principato.
Using the authoritative Means Construction Cost Index (Means'
CCI), which measures trends in the cost of constructing capital
projects, ACI-NA research shows that the $3.00 PFC is worth only
$1.73 in 2007 dollars, while the $4.50 PFC is worth $2.86. When
fully indexed for construction-cost inflation using the Means' CCI,
the existing $3.00 PFC should be $5.21 in 2007, while the $4.50 PFC
should be $7.20.
"ACI-NA has made a clear case for
an increase in the PFC from the FAA proposed cap of $6.00 to $7.50,
and advocates indexing PFCs to ensure that their value is not
eroded," Principato said.
Principato states the proposed FAA reauthorization bill falls
short of what is needed for airport capital programs. It includes
only $2.75 billion for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) in
Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, a decrease from the authorized $3.7 billion
from FY 2007.
AIP is an important source of funding for airport capital
projects and is especially important for smaller airports that have
less access to private capital markets. Reauthorizing AIP at
current or higher levels will make more funds available for the
discretionary program and Letters of Intent program for runway and
other large projects important to the national air transportation
system.
"In addition, we want to strengthen points of order and budget
protections that would make it difficult for appropriators to fund
the AIP below the authorized amount and increase funding for
programs that help small communities attract and retain commercial
service," Principato added.
Furthermore, FAA's Grant Assurances should be streamlined and
simplified to eliminate obsolete and redundant provisions, focus on
unauthorized diversion of aviation revenues and empower airports to
sustain themselves as non-profit public entities. Airport operators
should also be permitted to charge federal agencies for the use of
airport facilities.
"In order to plan for and support long-term capital investment
in airport infrastructure and the Next Generation Air Traffic
Control System (NextGen), FAA and aviation stakeholders need a
stable and predictable funding stream that does not unfairly
allocate cost to all users of the system and is bolstered by an
equitable and guaranteed General Fund contribution," said
Principato. "Everything should be on the table during this
reauthorization period. It is appropriate to look at all options to
meet this need."