The funding is welcome as airports attempt to fund much-needed improvements on their own. Lawmakers once again failed to raise the $4.50 Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) that helps airports pay for their capital construction programs. Airports are allowed to tack on a total of $9 in PFC charges for multi-leg trips but cannot exceed $18 per round trip.
Advocacy group Airports Council International-North America, in a report published earlier this year, maintained that the PFC’s purchasing power has decreased 50% since 2000 and that at the surcharge’s current level, North American airport operators will not be able to make a dent in the estimated $128 billion of capital improvements needed during the next five years.
