Airports Urge Congress to Provide Resources Needed to Deal with Unprecedented COVID-19 Challenges

March 18, 2020

WASHINGTON – Today, Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) urged Congress to provide America’s airports with the resources needed to deal with the unprecedented COVID-19 challenge. In a letter to House and Senate leadership, ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke and AAAE President and CEO Todd Hauptli explained the dire situation airports are facing and requested $10 billion in immediate assistance to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

“For airports, we are seeking $10 billion in immediate assistance to flow through the existing FAA Airport Improvement Program with expanded eligibility to meet airports’ most immediate needs,” Burke and Hauptli write. “To be clear, a rapid infusion of cash grants to airports must be in any immediate plan considered by Congress.”

Additionally, the letter highlights AAAE and ACI-NA’s strong support of efforts to provide airlines with immediate assistance.

“[I]t is imperative that special attention be given to the aviation industry, given its profound impact on the national economy and the devastating impacts the coronavirus will have on airlines, airports, and the myriad businesses that operate at airports across the country,” Burke and Hauptli note. “The aviation system is highly interdependent, so any effort to provide relief must include airports, airlines, and the businesses that rely on them.”

###

 

About ACI-NA

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) represents local, regional, and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Approximately 380 aviation-related businesses are also members of ACI-NA, providing goods and services to airports. Collectively, U.S. airports support more than 11.5 million jobs and account for $1.4 trillion in economic activity – or more than seven percent of the total U.S. GDP. Canadian airports support 405,000 jobs and contribute C$35 billion to Canada’s GDP. Learn more at www.airportscouncil.org.