The decision by the Department of Transportation to take Small Community Air Service Development grant money to pay for its own administrative costs is just the latest attack on the small community air service, which, according to many in Congress, has become more important than ever given capacity cuts. In addition, industry is asking Congress to forestall the expiration of the Airport Improvement Program.
DOT’s move on the SCASD funds was widely condemned with the set aside of $3.2 million of the $10 million appropriated by Congress with the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) criticizing the department.
"Designating 32 percent of funds appropriated for the Small Community Air Service Development Program for administrative purposes seems unreasonably high,” said AAAE President Chip Barclay. “By contrast, the Federal Aviation Administration received only $75 million in Fiscal Year 2007 to distribute more than 2,000 Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants-or approximately two percent of the $3.5 billion that Congress appropriated for the AIP program that year." Barclay noted that, nationwide, communities are struggling to maintain air service.
As part of the fiscal year 2008 omnibus appropriations bill, Congress provided $10 million for the program. DOT selected 16 communities to receive grants under the Small Community Air Service Development Program. Those communities will receive between $100,000 and $750,000 in grants and are contributing their own resources to their respective projects. Numerous other communities applied for grants but did not receive funding.
In a letter to DOT Secretary Mary Peters, Barclay noted that, based on the average grant award, $3.2 million could be used to fund another seven projects at communities across the country.
"I encourage you to reconsider DOT's decision to allocate such a large portion of small community funds for administrative purposes and to consider designating some or all of the $3.2 million to other small communities that have applied for grants instead," Barclay wrote.
The association also urged Congress to address expiring federal airport programs. “Unless Congress acts to either pass a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill or further extend FAA programs and aviation taxes into next year, airports will once again see important airport development funding through the Airport Improvement Program subject to fits and starts,” Barclay said. “Those types of disruptions impose a significant burden on airports trying to plan and execute necessary upgrades.”
In a letter to congressional leaders, Barclay urged Congress to either pass a multi-year bill or at the very least to extend aviation programs and excise taxes into next year. Since Congress has been unable to pass a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill, lawmakers have approved a series of short-term extensions instead, the most recent of which expires on September 30. Unless Congress acts prior to September 30, AIP, other key FAA programs, and the aviation excise taxes that support those programs will expire.
According to Barclay, airports would strongly prefer that Congress pass a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill that raises the cap on Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs) to $7.00, opposed by many in the industry even before passengers faced huge fee increases imposed by the airlines. The association said PFCs increase AIP funding by $100 million per year and increases funding for programs that help small communities retain and attract commercial air service.
In the absence of a reauthorization bill, AAAE is urging Congress to pass more extensions that last until at least the end of March. It cited FAA contentions that it needs at least a six-month extension (beyond the beginning of the fiscal year in October) to administer the AIP program.
In addition to calling for extending AIP contract authority, AAAE has urged Congress to extend aviation excise taxes and airport and airway trust fund expenditure authority. AAAE also urged Congress to approve the Fiscal Year 2009 Department of Transportation spending bill and appropriate funding for AIP.
“Additional delays in AIP funding would impact airports of all sizes and would be particularly hard on small airports that rely on federal funds for capital projects and on those airports in areas with short construction cycles,” Barclay noted in the letter to congressional leaders. “Many large airports would also be adversely affected because they count on AIP funds gained through Letters of Intent to build capacity-enhancing projects.”
Given the importance of AIP to all airports, Barclay said that it was imperative that Congress ensure that FAA is able to distribute AIP funds to airports early in the fiscal year.