Airport Finance: Observations on Planned Airport Developments Costs and Funding Levels and the Administration's Proposed Changes in the Airport Improvement Program

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked for an update on current funding levels for airport development and the sufficiency of those levels to meet planned development costs for the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) proposed transitioning to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). To finance this system and to make its costs to users more equitable, the administration has proposed fundamental changes in the way that FAA is financed. GAO's testimony comprises capital development estimates made by FAA and Airports Council International (ACI), the chief industry association; analyzes how much airports have received for capital development and whether this is sufficient to meet future planned development; and summarizes the effects of proposed changes in funding for airport development. This testimony is based on ongoing GAO work. Airport funding and planned development data are drawn from the best available sources and have been assessed for their reliability. This testimony does not contain recommendations.

This report answers the following questions about airports' capital development projects: (1) How much are airports of various sizes spending on capital development and where is the money coming from? (2) If current funding levels continue, will they be sufficient to meet capital development planned for the 5-year period from 1997 through 2001?; and (3) If a difference exists between current funding and planned development, what is the potential effect of various proposals to increase airport funding? Includes testimony by Gerald Dillingham, Assoc. Director, Transportation Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic Development Div., General Accounting Office.