Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) President and CEO Kevin M. Burke today published an op-ed in the Washington Examiner urging Congress to address crowded airports by updating the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC). In the op-ed, Burke highlights how modernizing the PFC is the most efficient way to fix busy airports, lower ticket prices, and improve the airport experience for the millions of Americans expected to travel this summer.
“Lifting the anti-competitive federal cap on the PFC would allow airports to fund their infrastructure projects and in turn address many of the issues that cause long wait times,” Burke writes. “Case studies have shown that updated facilities and newer technology decrease wait times.”
Burke also notes that Congress hasn’t updated the PFC in nearly twenty years, before the tragic events of 9/11 changed the way in which airports conduct security screening.
“Congress last adjusted the cap on the PFC more than a year before the tragic events of September 11, 2001,” Burke says. “This was far before the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, which introduced new, larger equipment for screening passengers and baggage and implemented enhanced, security measures at screening checkpoints. While these measures are necessary to ensure the safety of the traveling public, they can also lead to more congestion at checkpoints. Despite the demands of the post-9/11 world placed on our airports, Congress has not modernized the PFC in nearly two decades.”
A recent ACI-NA report found that America’s airports require more than $128 billion in infrastructure upgrades by 2023. You can read the full op-ed here.
