SPECIAL REPORT: CONNECTIVITY
A team approach
Engaging with communities and taking steps to show the economic benefits of projects can help secure the long-term future of US airports and the regions they serve, writes Ryan Pearce.
I
t was an adage that drove development in the western United States: When the railroad came to town, you thrived. When it left, you died. While a bit hyperbolic, that transportation revolution was transformative, not only for travel and commerce, but for development. As Union Pacific proudly notes in its history, more than 7,000 cities and towns west of the Missouri River began as depots and water stops. Arguably, the job the railroad had as an economic driver has today been assumed by the world's airports. From the busiest on the planet, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL), to smaller gateways such as Huntsville (HSV) and Bessemer Municipal (EKY) in the US state of Alabama, airports of all sizes have a direct impact on the economic vitality and prosperity of the cities and regions they serve. As ACI-North America noted in its pre-COVID issued 2017 report, Taking America Beyond the Horizon: The Economic Impact of Commercial Service Airports, airports in the US account for $1.4 trillion in annual economic activity and support nearly 11.5 million jobs. Yet, for as high profile as airports can be in their communities, what are often unseen are their infrastructure needs, whether those needs be due to age or use that has exceeded the facility's original scope. The same ACI report notes that airport infrastructure improvements in the US top $115 billion, with most airport funding coming through sources other than taxpayer funds. That last fact is key, as airport owners and operators eye improvements and upgrades to their facilities and airfields. While user fees are often the primary source of revenues for airport operators, fees alone usually aren’t enough to pay for upgrades and improvements.
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AIRPORT WORLD/ISSUE 1, 2024
Knowing not only where to access the funds but how those funds must be used is as vital as the plans that drive an airport improvement project. By today’s economics, airport improvements and expansions are as much about land-use and a financing exercise as they are about engineering and security. Putting together the pieces can stretch an airport manager beyond their comfort zone, especially for small to midsize airports. Stepping back from the details, though, to see a project in a holistic light, managers can successfully elevate infrastructure improvement to economic development.
Tap into the community, industrial boards
Like the railroads that brought economic prosperity to towns they visited, commercial airports, including general aviation (GA) facilities, have the same effect. A joint report released in April 2023 by the National Association of State Aviation Officials and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials found that for every dollar invested in GA airports, $75 was returned on average by companies utilising those facilities. This trickle-down effect is real and demonstrates how airport projects are community development projects. With this lens, airports have a spectrum of community expertise at their disposal that they can lean on to develop an appropriate plan for their projects. Beginning with airport boards, these advisory groups usually are staffed with people who are invested in the community and bring insights into the area’s needs and potential that an airport can help meet or seed.