USA. Airport modernisation was the key item on the agenda last Thursday as directors representing Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) airports met US President Donald Trump, an outspoken critic of many US gateways.
“Our airports are like from a Third World country,” the President, then Mr Trump, said during the recent election campaign. That sentiment, widely shared by many travellers and aviation officials, prompted the memorable Wall Street Journal headline, ‘Third World U.S. Airports? That insults the Third World.’
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| There was just a single line, around eight layers deep, and it moved at roughly the pace of a sloth that has been tranquilised, had its legs bound together and been told to climb an iceberg. |
The meeting, which included representatives from Airlines for America and senior White House officials, discussed opportunities to improve the passenger experience, modernise airport infrastructure, and create jobs in local communities across the United States.
ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin Burke was joined by ACI-NA members including William Vanecek, Director of Aviation, Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Chair of ACI-NA; Ginger Evans, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Aviation; Deborah Flint, CEO, Los Angeles World Airports; Patrick Foye, Executive Director, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Joseph Lopano, CEO, Tampa International Airport; John Potter, President and CEO, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority; and Robert Wigington, President and CEO, Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.
“We greatly appreciate the President’s persistent, vocal support for building airport infrastructure as a key component of improving the passenger experience, rebuilding our nation, growing our economy, and creating jobs,” said Burke. “We had a very productive conversation today that focused on our commitment to improving the passenger experience at airports across the United States.
“During the meeting, the President stated four times that America must modernise and rebuild our airports. We can quickly fund and undertake these much-needed infrastructure projects with no federal budget impact by giving airports more control of local investment decisions. We estimate that 2.1 million jobs could be created while enhancing the passenger experience simply by removing federal limits on the local user fee known as the Passenger Facility Charge.”
Damningly, the average airport facility in the United States is over 40 years old
According to ACI-NA, nearly 1.2 million people work at America’s airports. Airports support nearly 10 million jobs in local communities across the country and contribute over US$1.1 trillion in economic output annually.
Damningly, the average airport facility in the United States is over 40 years old. The youngest large hub airport is 21 years old. America’s airports have more than US$100 billion in infrastructure needs over the next five years.
[Donald Trump has been dismissing US airports as “third world” since 2011, as this interview shows, a claim he repeated many times during the recent US Presidential campaign]
