ARTBA's Transportation Advocacy Activities

Home > Government Affairs > Coalitions > Alliance > Air Trust Points

Alliance for Truth in Transportation Budgeting
Airport and Airway Trust Fund
Bullet Points

REVENUES/INVESTMENTS:

Aviation users are expected to pay about $10 billion into the Trust Fund in aviation taxes and fees in 1999.
Of this $10 billion, only about $8 billion will be spent from the Trust Fund on aviation programs (This does not include the $1.45 billion general fund payment.)
Only about $4 billion of this will be spent on aviation infrastructure ($1.95 billion on airport improvements and $2 billion on air traffic control modernization).
Of the 18,000 airports in the U.S., 3,200 are eligible for AIP grants, 575 have scheduled air service, 444 have air traffic control towers, 413 are considered primary airports, and 69 enplane 89% of all scheduled passengers.
The cash balance in the Trust Fund is over $11 billion. It is expected to grow to $63 billion in 10 years if nothing is done.
Over the last 5 years, the number of passengers in the U.S. has grown 27% to 655 million. It is expected to grow to 995 million in 10 years.
The National Civil Aviation Review Commission recommended in December 1997 that the FAA be shielded from discretionary budget caps and that a direct link be established between revenues from aviation users and spending on aviation services.

NEEDS:

Airports estimate, and GAO agrees, that airport infrastructure needs will be about $10 billion per year for at least the next 5 years.
Airports only have access to about $7 billion per year from all sources (AIP, PFCs, bonds). Therefore there is a $3 billion airport infrastructure funding gap.
FAA’s ACE Plan projects that aircraft operations will increase 19% by 2009 to 75.4 million. At the top 100 airports, they are expected to increase 30% by 2012
According to ATA, airlines flew 8.2 million flights in 1997.
In its 1998 ACE Plan, the FAA cites 27 airports that are seriously congested, experiencing more than 20,000 hours of delay per year. These delays cost the airlines half a billion dollars. FAA forecasts that unless airport capacity investments are made, the number of seriously congested airports will grow to 31 by 2007. List on page 31 of ACE Plan.
GAO, in a December 1998 report, stated that FAA’s latest financial plan indicates that $17 billion will be needed from FY 1999 through FY 2004 for air traffic control modernization.
Delays (according to FAA’s 1998 Airport Capacity Enhancement (ACE) Plan) –

245,000 flights were delayed by 15 minutes or more in 1997 for reasons related to the FAA.
Delays caused by FAA’s inability to handle the traffic increase 10%.
Delays caused by problems with air traffic control equipment increased 9%.