The purpose of the Airport and Airline Business Working Group is to survey business terms in current Airline Use Agreements and identify emerging trends and best practices to assist airports in negotiations and other discussions with airlines; catalogue expertise and experience as resources for other committees; collaborate with Airlines for America on issues of interest to both airlines and airports; and address other pertinent goals related to the various facets of airport and airline relationships.  The Working Group emphasizes venues for direct dialogue with airline representatives.

Working Group 2018 Chair

Tatiana Starostina
Manager of Financial Planning,
Oakland International Airport

Working Group 2018 Projects

  • Airline Agreement – emerging trends and best practices
    1. Complete the 2017/2018 business terms survey:
      1. Reach out to airports that did not respond last year, particularly small- and non-hub airports. Offer them assistance in completing the survey.
      2. Prepare a template for a high-level summary of key business terms and special features. Pilot the template at the annual Business of Airports conference.
    2. Conduct a webinar for recently negotiated agreements and related hot topics.
    3. Identify topics for ACRP Research Program — for example, ratemaking approaches for common use terminals and facilities.
    4. Update the Airline Agreements posted on the ACI-NA Finance Committee Resource Center.
  • Engage with other ACI-NA committees and Finance Committee working groups on the following topics:
    1. Airline Roundtable at the Business of Airports conference — Invite participation from CEO Committee
    2. Monitoring of airline self-reporting of PFCs — Engage with Accounting/Financing Working Group on a joint initiative to track the trends in the ratio of PFC collections to enplaned passengers by airport.
    3. Inclusion of frequent flyer award passengers in PFC eligible category – Engage with Financial Impacts of Federal Policy Working Group in drafting a proposal to include frequent flyer award passengers into the PFC program.
    4. Additional CBP staffing — Work with Matt Cornelius of ACI-NA.
    5. Operations, Planning, Safety, Infrastructure, & Development Committee (OPSID) – Explore joint engagement opportunities.
  • Airline Outreach and Coordination:
    1. Continue collaboration with A4A in identifying topics for the ACI-NA Business of Airports Conference and the A4A annual properties all-hands meeting to discuss issues relevant to both airlines and airports.
    2. Seek airline and A4A support for increased CBP staffing and LEO reimbursement. Present a unified position on this to the Administration.
  • Other matters:
    1. Poll airports on FAA Form 127 improvements and recommend modifications—e.g. modifications to avoid misrepresentation and overstatement of cash reserves.

Working Group 2017 Achievements

Airport Business Term Survey

In 2016, the working group revised the business term survey to: (1) provide consistent definitions, (2) improve the accuracy of responses, and (3) build a comprehensive database for airport method and practice when negotiating airline use/lease agreements. Launched in early November 2016, the survey received complete responses from 60 airports by the time the 2017 Business of Airports Conference was held in April. The working group took measures to ensure that the responses accurately reflect the airports’ business arrangements with their airline partners. The final survey results were presented at the working group meeting in Palm Springs during the Business of Airports Conference. The working group organized a webinar on September 27, 2017 to present findings of the 2016-2017 survey, a review of common business terms and practices in the industry; as well as two case studies by airports that recently completed their negotiations.