Although it’s likely that, if you’ve flown before, you probably have little first-hand experience with other air infrastructure systems. General aviation (non-commercial private planes), freight and shipping airplanes, and air defense are all important pieces of the national puzzle. It’s important that they receive funding to maintain safe, efficient airports, avoid congestion and delays, and promote national security.
One of the mechanisms for funding airports and other air infrastructure is the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). The AIP uses some of the money paid into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to provide grants for planning and development of airports.
Recently, the AIP has been cut and airports are growing at a rate that will soon outpace their funding sources. What will be the result? Some authors argue that air traffic will lock up and there will be significant delays. These delays compromise the air travel experience, cost a lot more money (compounding the problem), and otherwise make our air infrastructure less safe. Below are some cards to get you started researching the AIP aff and a few notable articles that can help give context. Take a look, and happy air infrastructure researching!
AIP is being cut now, undermining the entire air infrastructure system.
Principato, 12 [Greg, president, Airports Council International-North America; M.A. in International Relations from University of Chicago; International Trade and Transportation specialist, Hunton & Williams, March 27, The Hill, http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/ ... rports-inc]
With the latest Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) forecast predicting a doubling of passengers and cargo by 2030, the current funding system is not up to the job of ensuring airports will have the infrastructure they need to handle such dramatic increases in traffic.¶ ¶ This will have far-reaching consequences. Commercial airports are powerful economic engines, generating 10.5 million jobs and $1.2 trillion for the U.S. economy, according to a new Airports Council International-North America study. Across the country, workers and businesses count on local airports to attract investment and move people and goods around the world. Since 2001, the total number of jobs associated with airports has increased by more than 50 percent. ¶ Despite unprecedented growth and clear evidence of the economic benefits of infrastructure investments, airports expect to have $80 billion in unmet needs through 2015 because of the flawed system used to pay for infrastructure projects.¶ That has not always been the case. Airports generated millions of jobs and trillions of dollars for local communities between 2001 and 2010 because President Bill Clinton and Congress made two decisions to improve airport infrastructure planning and investment in 2000.¶ ¶ The first decision allowed local communities to raise more money to finance airport improvements by giving them the authority to increase the passenger facility charge from $3 to $4.50. This helped meet local needs by expanding airport capacity to serve more passengers, handle more cargo, attract more air service and most important: promote business and commerce.¶ ¶ The second decision increased investments in the federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) so that the money users pay into the nation’s Airport and Airway Trust Fund could be reinvested into the system, including the airports where all of this economic activity begins and ends. The money for this comes from the aviation trust fund which is funded by users.¶ ¶ Growth in jobs and business activity took place because we made a national decision to invest in the future – the airports that serve as the economic hubs of our national aviation system.¶ ¶ The result is that in 2010, airports were responsible for about 8 percent of U.S. gross domestic product and 7 percent of all U.S. jobs. By any standard, that is a significant return on investment. Dollar for dollar, commercial airports rate as a remarkably worthwhile infrastructure investment.¶ ¶ This is not news to other countries. Our international competitors recognize the benefits of modern airport infrastructure. That’s why they are building and expanding airports at a rapid pace (China alone is now building 12 to 15 new airports per year) to prepare for predicted growth in global travel and business.¶ ¶ Unfortunately, we are retreating from these policy and investment decisions at just the wrong time. After five years, 23 extensions and a 14-day shutdown, Congress passed an FAA Reauthorization bill early this year that did not provide for any new funding for airports – the passenger facility charge ceiling was not raised and Airport Improvement Program funding was cut.¶ ¶ Yet as the FAA data show, commercial airports need to begin investing now in order to meet the long-term needs of the traveling public over the next two decades. Commercial airports must have new runways and terminals, and aging facilities must be upgraded. This requires long lead times – as much as eight years – to move through the planning and permitting process. And don’t forget that successful implementation of the future air traffic control system known as NextGen depends on airport infrastructure investment as well.¶ ¶ We need to grant power to our localities and allow them to raise their own revenues and restore the national investment in aviation infrastructure. The answer to creating another two decades of good news is to ensure that our commercial airports are recognized as America’s economic engine – where job creation takes off.
Airport infrastructure investment is critical to airport security, economic growth, and power projection.
DRI-WEFA, ’02 [Global Insight and Economic Forecasting Company, July, “The National Economic Impact of Civil Aviation,” http://www.aia-aerospace.org/stats/reso ... tStudy.pdf]
The importance of civil aviation to the economy, to the nation, and to the quality of life of¶ Americans was made readily apparent by the terrible events of September 11, 2001. Layoffs¶ and financial losses in civil aviation, its supplier industries, the tourism industry, and the broader¶ economy rose sharply.¶ As air traffic returns to pre-September 11 rates of growth—as projected in the Federal Aviation¶ Administration’s (FAA) most current forecast1—air traffic delays will resume and increase¶ dramatically.2 Congestion and delay, a function of capacity-constrained airport and airway¶ infrastructure, not only will inconvenience passengers and shippers; it also will impose¶ considerable costs on the United States as a whole. Conversely, investment in this¶ infrastructure will foster economic growth and enhance safety and security.¶ On November 27, 2001, just 11 weeks after the terrorist attacks, John Marburger, Director of the¶ White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, reiterated the continued need for¶ investment in the nation’s airports and airways in remarks to the Commission on the Future of¶ the U.S. Aerospace Industry:¶ “We need to develop a 21st Century global air transportation system that provides¶ safe, secure, efficient and affordable transportation of people, goods, and information¶ in peacetime and wartime—enabling people and goods to move freely anywhere,¶ anytime, on time. We need a system that:¶ - Enhances national security by strengthening homeland defense while enabling¶ the military to project power anywhere in the world at any time;¶ - Increases U.S. economic competitiveness by building a more efficient, higher¶ capacity air transportation system; and¶ - Improves the quality of life of all Americans by enabling them to do what they¶ want to do when and where they want to do it.?3
Successful airlines are key to competitiveness and trade.
DRI-WEFA, ’02 [Global Insight and Economic Forecasting Company, July, “The National Economic Impact of Civil Aviation,” http://www.aia-aerospace.org/stats/reso ... tStudy.pdf]
Since World War II, a key direction of global commerce has been the increasing integration of¶ national economic activity. Industrial nations came together to form the Organization for¶ Economic Corporation and Development (OECD). The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade¶ (GATT) was formed and then superseded by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to help¶ facilitate a new era of accelerated global trade.¶ These trends reflect the global integration of economies as business increasingly sought not¶ only to sell its products into wider markets, but also to coordinate production and distribution¶ across national borders. Every region of the world has participated in these trends except for the¶ Middle East, whose export statistics are distorted by the region’s huge exports of petroleum and¶ related products.¶ This steady increase in trade activity has been enhanced by the growth of global air¶ transportation. Clearly, air transportation has facilitated business’ ability to move its products¶ around the world. But it has played a far more important role in bringing business managers¶ together, enabling them to build the links, communications, and personal relationships¶ necessary to achieve such a level of international business activity. Despite continuous¶ advances in telecommunications technologies, the growth in global business over the past 50¶ years could not have been achieved without the personal contact enabled by the world’s air¶ transportation system.¶ Not only is air transportation important to the global economy; it is also an important enabler of¶ economic growth for individual economies. By developing its air transportation system, a¶ country can better link itself to the global economy and provide an environment for its business¶ that facilitates global activity. Conversely, there are distinct disadvantages for regions or¶ communities that are beyond the reaches of efficient air transportation. In these regions,¶ business remains more isolated and less able to reap the benefits offered by being connected to¶ global economic activity.¶ Both adequate airport capacity and the efficiency with which the air transportation system works¶ are critical to generating economic benefits. The main body of this report examines the impacts¶ that a constrained system in the United States would have on the U.S. economy later in the¶ decade. But it is also true that these constraints would inhibit the ability of the United States to¶ compete in global markets, damaging its international competitiveness in general and the international competitiveness of U.S. civil aviation specifically. This chapter examines some of¶ the elements of such potential damage.
Stagnated AIP funding guarantees safety, economic problems.
Liang, ’11 [Keith, Staff @ The Hill, “Airports Council: Fund improvement program in 2013,” The Hill, August 22, http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation ... m-in-2013-]
Principato said the airport improvement program has been funded at the same levels as in 2006, which makes it difficult to budget for rising construction projects.¶ He said the need for airport construction warranted additional funding in 2013.¶ "According to both [Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)] and industry studies, the need for [airport improvement projects (AIP)] far exceeds existing grants, therefore any proposed reductions to AIP funding will mean significant delays for vital safety, security and modernization projects, negatively impacting the traveling public and ultimately our national economy," he said.
Want more?
An older article, nonetheless with some good background and analysis:
BENNETT ’99 - Journal of Engineering and Public Policy; Denver Urban Renewal Authority Administrator (Grant, D. “Funding Airport Infrastructure: Federal Options for Solvency”. August 5. Journal of Engineering and Public Policy. http://www.wise-intern.org/journal/1999/index.html)
An overview of general aviation as it relates to security risks:
Elias, 2009
(Bart, specialist in aviation policy, Federation of American Scientists, “Securing General Aviation”, March 3, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL33194.pdf)
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