Centerlines - March 2009 - (Page 7) PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE COLUMN Airports and Jobs: The Community’s Jobs Generator “A I R P O R T S R E P R E S E N T L O C A L and regional economic growth. Behind every airport is an entire array of jobs, economic opportunity, real people and businesses,” U.S. Rep. James Oberstar said in a July interview with Centerlines. As the nation comes to grips with its worst economic recession in decades and a growing backlog of infrastructure needs, it is important to remind local and national leaders just how vital an airport is to the local economy. An axiom of history is that commerce and growth create a demand for better transportation, which leads to more growth, which leads to the need to improve transportation. You get the idea. Our focus in today’s tough times is on the primary impact: the jobs and payroll generated by employees, the concession operators, the suppliers, construction workers and the local airline staff. That impact is critically important, but it’s also important to keep in mind the broader impact of airport infrastructure and the need to have in place tools to permit on-going investment that will stimulate jobs right away, while also producing conditions for future growth. To remain competitive, many airports need capacity improvements. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimates there will be $49.7 billion in capital improvement projects needed in the next five years. When you add projects like parking garages and terminal renovations that cannot be funded by the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), the number is even higher. Without these investments, FAA estimates that flight delays will increase by 62 percent by 2014. With construction cost inflation reducing the value of the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) by nearly half since the last increase, and with huge looming budget deficits putting future AIP spending in peril, we have a big challenge ahead of us. Since January, ACI-NA has twice testified before the House in support of the economic stimulus plan and FAA reauthorization. We need to make the credit markets work for airports again. We need a FAA bill that raises the PFC to at least the $7, which was in last year’s House passed bill, and maintain a strong AIP. It is critical that the airport community — the staff, commissioners and the local chambers — reach out to your congressional representatives. They need to hear your story about how your airport fits into the national economy. They need to hear it now while these issues are hot, but they also need to hear day in and day out in the months and years to come. After all, at the end of the day it is about jobs – jobs at the airport, jobs with the local hotels, jobs at the local manufacturing plants and jobs on Main Street. ■ centerlines Airports Council International – North America 1775 K Street NW Suite 500 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 293-8500 www.aci-na.org ® 2009 ACI-NA Executive Committee John D. Clark, III Chair Jacksonville Aviation Authority G. Hardy Acree First Vice Chair Sacramento County Airport System Frank R. Miller Second Vice Chair Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport Thella Bowens Secretary-Treasurer San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Randall “Randy” H. Walker Immediate Past Chair Clark County Department of Aviation Barry Rempel Ex Officio Winnipeg Airports Authority, Inc 2009 Board of Directors Iftikar Ahmad Dayton Department of Aviation Bruce Carter Metropolitan Airport Authority of Rock Island County David. N. Edwards, Jr. Asheville Regional Airport Authority Jim M. Ethridge Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority David Jennings Charleston County Aviation Authority Thomas J. Kinton, Jr. Massachusetts Port Authority Susan Kurland DEPFA First Albany Securities Bradley S. Livingston Dane County Regional Airport William F. Marrison Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority Charles “Skip” T. Miller Louisville Regional Airport Authority Reginald K. Milley Edmonton Regional Airports Authority Raul Regalado Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority Mark Reis Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Willam Restall Saskatoon Airport Authority Maureen Riley Salt Lake City Department of Airports Lester W. Robinson Wayne County Airport Authority Mark VanLoh Kansas City Aviation Department 2009 World Business Partners/ Associates Board of Directors Robert A. Hazel Chair Oliver Wyman Laddie E. Irion Vice Chair URS Susan Kurland Immediate Past Chair DEPFA First Albany Securities Donald G. Andrews Reynolds, Smith and Hills Steven T. Baldwin The Louis Berger Group Leslie K. Cappetta SSP America Armen DerHohannesian Armen DerHohannesian Bruce Feuer The Paradies Shops Kurt Krummenacker Moody’s Investors Service Deborah T. Meehan SH&E David Naleway Jacobs Mark A. Perryman Landrum & Brown, Inc. Randy D. Pope Burns & McDonnell GREG PRINCIPATO PRESIDENT ACI-NA www.aci-na.org | CENTERLINES 7 http://www.aci-na.org http://www.aci-na.org http://www.aci-na.org
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