Airports Council Welcomes New Rulemaking Process to Modernize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Participation

July 21, 2022

WASHINGTON – Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada, today welcomed the issuance of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) by the U.S. Department of Transportation to amend 49 C.F.R. Part 23, Participation of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise in Airport Concessions (“Part 23”) and 49 C.F.R Part 26, Participation of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in Department of Transportation Financial Assistance Programs (“Part 26”).

“ACI-NA and its members have long advocated for equity, diversity, and inclusion through the various programs and activities in which airport operators are involved,” said ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke.  “This includes promoting successful Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (“ACDBE”) programs.  We are pleased that DOT issued the NPRM on Part 23 as ACI-NA requested, and look forward to working with our members to submit comments on both programs.”

ACI-NA strongly supports airport DBE and ACDBE programs. Both have shown to be important tools in the toolbox to help disadvantaged members of local communities have fair and equitable access to participate in airport business opportunities.

In June 2021, ACI-NA requested that the Department of Transportation (DOT) initiate a Part 23 rulemaking to address numerous unresolved regulatory issues and modernize the ACDBE program.

A copy of ACI-NA’s June 2021 letter can be found here.

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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.