Twenty two organizations of the Beyond the Runway Coalition* sent a letter Friday, March 20, 2020 to Congress members: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, requesting immediate federal assistance in response to the COVID-19 national emergency. The coalition noted the pandemic is leading individuals, businesses, and governments to cut budgets, reduce expenses, and defer capital projects.
The letter emphasized that airports
“… have been acutely impacted by the economic shutdown, as operational costs increase and important infrastructure projects are put on hold. As public institutions, airports are seen as economic drivers in their communities and are doing their part to remain critical lifelines in responding to this crisis. To assist in this time of national emergency, the coalition recommends … an immediate infusion of capital into the airports to address their most pressing needs, such as airport operations, airport infrastructure maintenance, cleaning activities, and bond payments.”
To download the letter, please go to: www.acpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BTR-Coalition-pandemic-032020.pdf
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* The Airport Council International‘s Beyond the Runway Coalition is comprised of a wide range of aviation industry stakeholders seeking to ensure that airports remain strong economic engines and job centers in their local communities.
The Beyond the Runway Coalition brings together a wide variety of industry stakeholders seeking to ensure that airports remain strong economic engines and job centers in their local communities. Together, they are aligned in support for modernizing airport infrastructure financing to ensure our nation’s airports have the resources they need to remain competitive and thriving hubs of economic opportunity.
America’s airports generate more than $1.4 trillion in annual activity and support more than 11.5 million jobs. Passenger traffic through our airports has dramatically increased over the past several years, but our antiquated aviation infrastructure has not kept pace with this overwhelming demand. To help our airports grow and remain competitive the coalition supports the policy initiatives that will modernize and improve our nation’s airport infrastructure.
The 91 member organizations are aligned in support of modernizing airport infrastructure financing to ensure airports in the United States have the resources they need to remain competitive, thriving hubs of economic opportunity. For the coalition page on the Airports Council International (ACI) website, please go to: https://airportscouncil.org/advocacy/beyondtherunway/