FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2017

 

WASHINGTON – With less than a month until the expiration of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs and taxes, the U.S. airport community has written leaders in Congress to urge the quick adoption of a single, long-term FAA extension.

The letter, signed by American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) President and CEO Todd Hauptli and Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) President and CEO Kevin Burke, notes that a long-term FAA extension would ensure that federal funding for airport infrastructure projects through the Airport Improvement Program is not held up as Congress continues to work on a comprehensive FAA reauthorization bill.

“In order to avoid the multiple disruptions that airports experienced during consideration of the last FAA bill, we urge Congress to extend aviation programs and excise taxes for at least a year,” Hauptli and Burke wrote in the letter. “Passing a longer-term extension bill now would provide airports with much-needed predictability and ensure they are not subject to the vagaries of frequent, disruptive short-term extensions. In addition, a longer-term extension would not prevent Congress from continuing to work on a full FAA reauthorization proposal.”

FAA programs and taxes are scheduled to expire on September 30. If Congress does not approve an extension before then, the aviation industry would experience a damaging partial shutdown of the FAA and a lapse in aviation excise taxes that fund airport infrastructure and air traffic control modernization. Repeated short-term FAA extensions and uncertain funding levels are disruptive to airports planning complex infrastructure projects.

You can read the letter here.