Regional airport execs relieved FAA budget bill approved

Airport officials in Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith sighed in relief Monday evening as a long-awaited funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration received Senate approval.

The bill authorizes $63.4 billion for the FAA through fiscal year 2015, and extends certain program authorities and aviation taxes on fuel and tickets in addition to several other programs. The U.S. Senate approved the bill Monday evening with a vote of 75-20, said Sara Lasure, communications director for U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark. The House of Representatives passed the bill last Friday and now it goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

“It’s a good thing for everyone in the aviation industry,” said John Parker, airport director at the Fort Smith Regional Airport. “With having a multi-year funding bill, we can now make educated improvements on airfield improvements. The last few years we’ve never known when we would be getting money or how much funding would be available.”

The latest funding bill is the first multi-year bill since 2007. In the last few years, there have been 23 short-term funding allocations approved. Several weeks last summer some parts of the FAA were shut down because no funding bill was in place. Parker said local airports were not affected by the mandated furloughs because air traffic controllers were exempt.

Kelly Johnson, airport director at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, was also pleased to learn that the bill passed.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she said. “In the big picture, it’s a very positive thing. We didn’t get all that we wanted, but at least we got a bill (passed).”

With the bill passing, XNA can now move forward and seek the second of three $10 million grants needed to renovate the airport’s runway. The airport already has one of the grants, which will be used for drainage along the runway. The second grant will be used to resurface the runway, which has damage from ice, snow and time. The third grant will be used for more paving and lighting improvements at the airport. Work on the runway is expected to start this summer.

Johnson said funding was slightly reduced from the last funding bill, which had allowed for $3.5 billion. There was also no increase in the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), which is capped at $4.50. The PFC is a charge commercial airports controlled by public agencies can charge every plane passenger. These fees are used to pay for FAA-approved projects including ones that increase safety, security or capacity. The fees can also be used for plans that reduce noise or increase air carrier competition, according to the FAA.

The bill also reduces the percentage at what airports can receive help for Airport Improvement Program projects.

A third item some airport officials would like to see changed in the future is the length of time funding bills are in effect. While having a multi-year bill makes budgeting more feasible, having a full four years in one bill makes it harder to fix problems created by an existing bill, she said.

While airport officials are pleased a bill has been passed, work is already in progress on the next funding bill to prevent some of the problems and disagreements that led to this bill being delayed. Johnson said at least two organizations, the American Association of Airport Executives, of which she is a member; and the Airport Council International-North America have begun discussions about what should be in the next funding bill.