What Will It Take to Bring U.S. Airports Into the Future? Only $4
Photo Caption: The Jeppesen Terminal at Denver International Airport. Denver is one of the few bright spots in U.S. airports.
Skift Take
Airlines would strongly disagree with all of this. In fairness, airlines have their own cost burdens to tackle. But an extra $4 each way is hardly the worst air travel fee we’ve come across. Especially since their ancillary fees are one giant tax dodge.
The more than welcome news that a $4 billion investment will rebuild New York's LaGuardia airport from the ground up raises questions of what it would take to improve the nation's airport infrastructure.
The answer to that question is $4.
Airports need that $4 authorised by Congress, but airlines argue that $4 tacked on to each leg of a flight would be an onerous financial burden to passengers. Without those $4, though, airports say they can't raise the $75.7 billion investment required to meet demand and compete with modern, better airports abroad that fully embrace competition.
Everything Old is Old Again
According to ACI-NA (Airports Council International, North America) President and CEO, Kevin M. Burke, you can take your pick of which U.S. airports are long overdue for a major structural improvement projects. Most U.S. airports are aging, he tells us, and because of budgetary restrictions, they're not aging well.
"The average airport in the United States is about 4
