Finance Committee

The purpose of the ACI-NA Finance Committee is to create a platform of information sharing among airports to improve the economic health of the airport industry:

• Initiate and complete an annual work plan on financial and business matters that will benefit the airport industry;
• Actively provide the ACI-NA Board and other ACI-NA committees with input to key financial and business legislative and/or policy matters, and to coordinate selected initiatives;
• Assist ACI-NA with the coordination of the Business of Airports Conference each year;
• Plan and hold an Airport CFO Summit each year to share ideas and best practices;
• Actively support financial benchmarking initiatives so that airports can measure and improve performance;
• Actively support ACRP finance initiatives and report progress to the Committee.

Mission Statement: To create a forum for information sharing among airports to improve the economic health of the airport industry.

2024 Accomplishments

The 18th Airport CFO Summit

Building on the success of 17 airport annual CFO Summits, the Committee organized its 18^th event as an in-person meeting in Atlanta. A total of 92 airport members attended the CFO Summit.

The 2024 event includes eight roundtable discussions covering the following topics: CIP planning and project prioritization, airport and airline business relations, evolving market disruptors, impact of AI on airport finance, and trends in revenue development in addition to the “Needs and Leads” roundtable sessions.

2024 Business of Airports Conference

This year’s conference attracted a total of 766 attendees, which is a new record, including 244 registrants for the finance track.

The Finance Committee Steering Group planned a total of three standalone finance sessions, four finance roundtable sessions by hub size, four joint sessions with the Commercial Management, Business Diversity, and HR Committees, in addition to the full committee and working group meetings. Positive feedback was received throughout the event.

Accounting and Financing Working Group

ACI-NA Representation on GASAC

The 34-member Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC) is an organization of knowledgeable and experienced professionals that works closely with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in an advisory capacity and strives to ensure that the views of its members are consistently and effectively communicated to the GASB on a timely basis. The GASAC’s mission is to serve in an integral advisory role to the GASB in its process of establishing and improving standards of accounting and reporting for state and local governmental entities and to advise the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) upon request on matters affecting the GASB.

In May 2024, the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) approved the addition of ACI-NA to the GASAC. This will be ACI-NA’s first nomination. The Finance Committee Steering Group selected Abel Palacios as the ACI-NA representative to serve on GASAC, representing the airport industry.

Capital Market Update and Bond Financing Webinars

This working group organized a webinar on December 13 that provided a year-end review of capital market trends in 2023 and an outlook for 2024. Dan Kim, Director of Municipal Banking, CITI Group

Global Markets discussed a variety of issues that have shaped the airport bond market in 2023 as well as touched on major macroeconomic themes and trends that would be most relevant to issuers heading into 2024. A total of 288 members registered for this webinar.

This working group organized a bond financing webinar on April 11. The webinar provided a comprehensive guide to help airports navigate the complexities of funding airport infrastructure projects and equip airports with the knowledge and tools needed to successfully secure financing for airport development via the bond market. This webinar included four speakers representing the perspectives of issuer, banker, municipal advisor, and attorney. A total of 383 members registered for this webinar.

This working group is in the process of planning a Finance 102 webinar on the Ins and Outs of Airport Grants.

Accounting and Financing Discussion Forum Virtual Meetings

Upon the successful launch of the discussion forum in 2022, this Working Group continued its efforts to connect the broader accounting and finance teams of ACI-NA members to increase cooperation, coordination, sharing of best practices and exchange ideas and challenges experienced on the front line.

This Working Group organized two virtual meetings in 2024. The two meetings discussed various hot topics including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, GASB update, and IRA tax incentive. Each of these meetings engaged over 100 members.

Regular GASB Updates and Outreach

The Working Group continues to provide regular updates on the latest GASB exposure drafts and issued pronouncements. In April 2024, members of the Working Group met with Joel Black, Chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, and Lou Constantino, Vice-President, Governmental Affairs and External Relations, Financial Accounting Foundation, to discuss the latest accounting standard implementations and how these standards may impact the industry. Members of the Working Group provided feedback on issued standards and the impact they have had on airports, including GASB Statement No. 87, Leases.

Airport and Airline Business Working Group

2024 Business Term Survey

The ACI-NA Business Term Survey has been conducted since 2015 and has been well received with over sixty airport respondents annually. The survey was suspended during the COVID crisis and restarted in 2022. This survey catalogs commonly understood airport-airline business practices and Use and Lease Agreement terms and serves as a tool to assist airports in discussions with airlines over leases, rates, and charges, and other agreements by providing examples of where similar practices are in place.

This year, the working group focused on outreach to airports that have not responded to the 2023 survey and gathered agreements that are more current, along with rates and charges packages for posting to the Resource Library. The total number of responding airports reached 77. The results were presented at the Finance Workshop in Grand Rapids on September 7, and a webinar will be scheduled prior to the survey launch next year.

Organized the Roundtable with Airlines session at the Business of Airports Conference

This working group planned a roundtable with airlines session with representation from all market segments: international, legacy, low cost and ultra-low cost carriers, and attracted record participation from both the Finance and Commercial Management committees.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting and Metrics Task Group

This task group published the ACI-NA ESG Reporting and Metrics White Paper on April 4, 2024. In late May, the group held an industry webinar on the white paper, which was attended by a range of stakeholders, including many underwriters. This task group continued to socialize the ACI-NA Reporting and Metrics framework through presentations at the Business of Airports and AMAC’s annual conference. Melinda and members of the ACI-NA task group also continued to engage with ACI-World on their ESG effort.

Financial Regulatory Implications Working Group

Comments on FAA’s Proposed Amendments to the PFC Program

On September 27, the FAA published a proposed rule that would make a series of changes to the regulations governing the passenger facility charge (PFC) program. Most of the proposed changes would codify into 14 C.F.R. Part 158 FAA’s interim guidance relating to streamlining PFC applications, which imposes several restrictions limiting the possibility for streamlined PFC applications.

In close coordination with the Financial Regulatory Implications Working Group, ACI-NA filed substantive comments in response to the FAA proposed rule: a) challenging the restrictions and hurdles that the FAA wants to continue to impose, notably as regards the ineligibility criteria; and b) requiring adherence to statutory authority so that PFC-eligible activities routinely undertaken by airports become eligible.

Research on Access Charges

The Financial Regulatory Implications Working Group highlighted access charges for managing ground access as a topic requiring further exploration. Consequently, the Working Group submitted a research proposal to the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), which was approved for funding in FY2025.

Charging Mechanisms for UAS/AAM

The Working Group held a brainstorming session with European airports to review considerations shared by European and North American airports regarding charging mechanisms and cost- recovery approaches for UAS/AAM. This session will guide further developments and educational sessions at upcoming conferences.

Procurement Working Group

The Finance Committee launched a new discussion forum in 2023 to establish an ongoing process for connecting the procurement teams of ACI-NA members to collaborate, exchange ideas and challenges experienced on the front line. The goal is to increase cooperation, coordination, sharing of best practices and foster greater connections between the procurement teams of U.S. and Canadian member airports. Upon the successful launch of the discussion forum, a total of 116 individuals signed up for the Discussion Forum as of today.

In 2024, the Finance Committee elevated the discussion forum group to be an active working group. Julia Hodge of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was selected to serve as the

Chair and Matt Bauer of Tampa International Airport was selected to be the Vice Chair of this working group. Based on inputs from active members, the working group developed a draft Purpose Statement, as well as an initial Work Plan for 2025.

Strategic Planning and Performance Management Working Group

Annual ACI-NA financial benchmarking survey

ACI-NA has been conducting the annual Airport Financial Benchmarking Survey since 2007. This survey, overseen by the Strategic Planning and Performance Management Working Group, has proven to be a valuable tool for U.S. and Canadian airports in evaluating their operational and financial performance relative to their peers.

The summary presentation of FY2023 survey findings was delivered at the Finance Workshop on September 7 during the 2024 ACI-NA Annual Conference. A webinar was held on October 30 to share the survey findings with 242 members.

The FY2024 survey was launched in October 2024 immediately after the successful delivery of the benchmarking webinar. Working Group members will actively engage in outreach efforts to boost response rate.

Strategic Planning Webinar

As existing airport infrastructure continues to age and traffic volumes continue to recover, airport operators face decisions about how much they must invest to maintain physical assets, renovate facilities, and/or build new facilities. This working group organized a webinar on October 8 to continue the conversation that started at this year’s Business of Airports Conference by looking at more examples of ways to make those decisions strategically, sharing best practices and lessons learned, and exploring tools to help airports get there. Orlando International Airport and Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport presented their strategic planning process. A total of 143 members registered for this webinar.