Dear Colleagues,
By all accounts, the ACI-NA 15th Annual Conference and Exhibition was a tremendous success. From a number of highly productive discussions, leaders from across the aviation industry came to two resounding conclusions: aviation policies are in need of reform, and industry leaders must work together and assemble as wide a coalition as possible as we consider the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization in 2007.
ACI-NA is committed to getting the best possible reauthorization legislation for airports. During our Board of Directors meeting last February, the Board approved a series of reauthorization principles that have guided our actions. ACI-NA will be working to:
- Protect AIP funding for smaller airports and provide greater flexibility for the use of entitlements.
- Increase Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) authority for all airports.
- Streamline the PFC application process and increase flexibility for eligible projects.
- Reclassify airport bonds currently subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) to be fully tax-exempt.
- Provide for a financially stable Airport and Airways Trust Fund (AATF) that enables necessary investments to be made in air traffic control modernization and airport infrastructure. In addition, the AATF tax regime should better assess costs to the variety of users that access the system.
- Simplify airport grant assurances including reforms that permit airports to use non-aeronautical revenue sources to attract new and competitive air service to their communities.
The effort will not be successful, however, without your personal commitment and involvement. ACI-NA staff members are professionals who know how to get their messages in front of decision makers. But our work is only worthwhile if it is informed by the real experiences and needs you see in your dayto- day work. And, frankly, there is no lobbyist as effective as the local leader who calls to tell a member of Congress exactly how their decision will impact their constituents.
The ACI-NA Board of Directors; members of our 20 committees, subcommittees and working groups; and individuals from each of our member airports and associates all have a tremendous impact on the way we pursue policies in Washington, D.C.
Our legislative and regulatory agenda is a direct result of input heard from members in meetings, conference calls and by e-mail. And, advancing that agenda required a joint effort of a professional staff, well grounded in airport operations and policy, and a membership of airport staff and personnel with airport-related businesses.
North America’s airports need your support, now more than ever. I am confident that, working together, we will be a formidable team; one that can better prepare airports for a challenging future and will help us meet our customers’ growing needs and expectations.
Greg Principato
President
Airports Council International-North America