U.S. Airports Applaud CBP Plan to Add 2,000 New Officers

March 31, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2014

 

WASHINGTON—Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) today issued the following statement in response to the announcement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today of the allocation of 2,000 additional CBP officers at air, land and sea ports in 18 states:

“The addition of 2,000 new CBP officers is welcome news for U.S. airports and the millions of international passengers they welcome each year, and we applaud CBP for putting into action ACI-NA’s longstanding recommendation for addressing the critical staffing shortage,” said Kevin M. Burke, ACI-NA president and CEO.  “With international traffic on the rise, an increase in CBP staffing along with continued focus on processing efficiencies could not have come at a more critical time for U.S. airports.

“ACI-NA also commends CBP’s continuing pursuit toward greater facilitation efficiency through the use of trusted-traveler programs and technology,” continued Burke.  “These new CBP officers are a welcome compliment to the Global Entry program and Automated Passport Control kiosks, all three of which are important components of successfully alleviating lengthy Customs wait-times in our nation’s airports.”

 

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.