Airports Council Applauds Provision of COVID-19 Relief to Aviation Industry in Congress’ Latest Proposal

September 28, 2020

WASHINGTON—Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) today released the following statement in response to the House of Representatives’ latest COVID-19 relief proposal that provides $13.5 billion for U.S. airports.

“American airports thank House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and their allies in both parties for providing another round of relief funding to protect workers, make debt payments and keep these essential travel hubs operating as normal,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. “The prolonged downturn in commercial aviation related to COVID-19 continues to cost airports billions of dollars, and the longer that slowdown persists, the more those losses mount. We are grateful to members of Congress in both Chambers for recognizing this need and working so hard to prevent layoffs, missed debt payments or any operational disruptions.”

ACI-NA expects airports to lose more than $23 billion in one full calendar year after the lockdowns were first established to slow the spread of COVID-19. That total could grow significantly if the pandemic continues to depress air travel around the world. A COVID relief package introduced in the Senate in July included $10 billion to help airports offset their expected losses from the sharp and sustained drop in commercial aviation that resulted from the pandemic.

###

 

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.