Accounting & Financing Working Group
The objective of the Accounting and Financing Working Group is to assist US and Canadian airports with accounting and financing matters and to identify, communicate and educate airports on:
- Accounting and financial reporting
- Financing market conditions and opportunities
- Regulatory compliance and professional standards
- Emerging issues and trends
- Related best practices
The working group seeks to accumulate, develop and share information through cooperation and coordination with other Finance Committee working groups, member airports, external agencies and subject matter experts. The goal is to provide accounting, financial reporting and financing resources, recommendations and advocacy on behalf of airports that provides input on, and influences positive outcomes for, proposed or realized changes that impact the airport industry.
Working Group 2025 Chair
Abel Palacios
Vice President, Finance
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
- Continuously monitor topics at all stages of the GASB’s standard setting process in order to ensure timely communication to ACI-NA Finance Committee members, solicit input, and submit comment letters on issues of particular significance to airports.
- Provide 1 – 2 continuing professional education opportunities during the year for ACI-NA Finance Committee members. One of the education opportunities should focus on an upcoming GASB standard or implementation issue. The second educational opportunities should focus on financing issues that will be relevant for our airport environments.
- Commit to continue dialogues among the working group discussion forum related to accounting and financing issues. In addition, meet at least twice a year with the discussion forum via teams/zoom for hot topics discussion to continue to establish relationships among the working group.
Airport & Airline Business Working Group
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 2025 Chair
Tony Conza
Tampa International Airport
- Airline Agreement – emerging trends and best practices
- Conduct a webinar on results of 2022 Business Terms Survey
- Complete 2023 Business Terms survey with a focus on gaining new participants
- Send emails to 2022 participants indicating we are leaving the survey results the same for 2023 unless they indicate otherwise.
- Review list of non-responding airports and target most likely airports to respond. Send survey to these airports and assist with filling out if needed.
- Summarize the results.
- Conduct a webinar or a session at the Finance Committee Meeting at the ACI Annual Conference on the results of the 2023 Business Terms Survey.
- Review the ACI-NA Finance Committee Community Library to ensure it is updated with recent airline agreements and rates & charges packages.
- Organize the annual Airline Roundtable at the ACI Business of Airports Conference.
- Monitor and assess “hot issues” with Airlines that arise during the year. The monthly CFO calls can be used to identify issues that need to be addressed.
Financial Impacts of Federal Policy Working Group (Financial Regulatory Implications Working Group)
The purpose of this working group is to work in conjunction with other ACI committees, and to address the potential financial impact to airports resulting from policies drafted by congressional legislation, FAA initiatives, Executive Orders, and other policy-making bodies.
Working Group 2025 Chair
Chris Wimsatt
Sacramento County Department of Airports
- 2023 Re-authorization preparatory work – from the ACI-NA and AAAE joint established objectives – develop presentation to the financial community, develop talking points for consistent messaging, develop financial implication of the agenda items and determine impact of items not on the listing.
- TIFIA – update the presentation made to the Build America Bureau in December 2020, determine possible area of improvement in the TIFIA program, and engage airports (3) that are currently going through the TIFIA program to share lesson learned.
- Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIL) – Continue to monitor the overall program for lessons learned and best practices. Specifically, develop listing of items need to know information for airports allocated the ATP as most airports are not aware of the follow-up requirement after allocation.
- Things to Monitor – Continue to monitor areas that are currently not in legislation such as EVTOL/vertical take-off and landings, ESG, Electrification, etc.
- Other Legislation – continue to monitor other legislations that might directly impact the industry such as state legislation.
Membership Engagement Working Group
The purpose of this working group is to identify and implement membership outreach initiative. Working group membership includes officers and past chairs of this Committee. Efforts include phone calls and email communication to airports that have not been participating at the ACI-NA Business of Airports Conference, CFO Summit or any ACI-NA branded surveys, including the financial benchmarking survey and the business term survey, or airports that have newly appointed finance professional. This effort would help ensure that we engage as many airports as possible in the Committee projects and events.
Working Group 2022 Chair
Damian Brooke
Executive Vice President, Finance and Procurement
Tampa International Airport
- Use the ACI-NA member airport list to identify participation in the
- 2019 Business of Airports Conference
- 2020 CFO Summit
- financial benchmarking survey
- airport infrastructure needs survey
- Develop a priority list of airports with low or no participation. Reach out to these airports via email communication or phone calls.
- Update slides introducing the ACI-NA Finance Committee, its working groups, activities, and resources.
- Assign airports on the priority list to members of the working group to call or follow up with email to
- determine reasons for low participation
- identify improvements ACI-NA can make
- introduce committee
- Send out welcome letters to first time attendees of the Business of Airports Conference and/or the CFO Summit. Connect with first time attendees at the Conference to make them feel welcomed by the Committee.
- Above efforts would help ensure that we engage as many airports as possible in the Committee projects and events.
Strategic Planning and Performance Management Working Group
The purpose of this working group is to promote the implementation of best practices in strategic planning, continuous forecasting/budgeting, performance measurement, enterprise risk management, and benchmarking principles and techniques at airports; and to standardize, improve, and implement related industry surveys.
Working Group 2025 Chair
Ronda Chu
San Francisco International Airport
- Conduct the annual ACI-NA Financial Benchmarking survey.
- Stagger approach for airports to submit survey based on their fiscal year-end period.
- Assign working group members to airports for follow up responsibility.
- Focus on 100% retention of the 100 airports that submitted in 2022.
- Conduct presentation at Business of Airports meeting in June 2023 for all the airports that have submitted by then.
- Conduct final presentation at ACI-NA conference in September 2023 for all the airports that have submitted.
- Conduct webinar on the final survey results in October 2023.
- Conduct a Strategic Planning Webinar.
- Organize sessions related to strategic planning, future of airports and key strategic issues at ACI-NA finance events in 2023.
Interested in joining a working group?
Working group participation is open only to ACI-NA members. If you are a member and are interested in joining one of the Finance Committee’s five working groups, please contact Liying Gu.