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Issue link: http://airportbusiness.epubxp.com/i/643578
6 airportbusiness February/March 2016 AVIATION QUEEN Benét Wilson Senior Editor I am thrilled to be covering airports again. I've been in the aviation business for nearly 25 years as a journalist and a communicator, and I've covered air- ports for 10 years. I was the airports/security editor for Aviation Daily, and I also contributed airport pieces to Aviation Week. I've written for ACI-NA's Centerlines magazine and Airport World, and I'm the current Air Travel Expert for About.com, which includes airports coverage. I've always enjoyed the saying, "if you've seen one airport, then you've seen one airport." Having traveled to more than two dozen airports around the world, I've seen how facilities are transforming to better serve their two main customers: airlines and the passengers that fly them. In the 10 years I've covered airports, I've witnessed things that have directly affected the industry, including: • A major global recession; • Airline mergers — Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways, United Airlines and Continental Airlines and US Airways and American Airlines; • Major infrastructure and construction projects at airports of all sizes; and • Record high and low jet fuel prices. These economic pressures, which started in 2007, forced many airports to restructure in the face of cuts in commercial flights, which hit medium- and smaller-sized facilities very hard. But airports rose to the challenge and adapted, working hard to maintain existing air service, chase after new flights and make necessary improvements to prepare for future growth. When I started writing about the industry in 2006, leaders were fighting to raise the cap on the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), which has been set at $4.50 since 2000. The argument was that inflation has eroded the value of the charge. Airports were in a pitched battle with the airlines, who called the fee another tax on passengers. The measure was not included in the last FAA reauthorization bill, passed in 2012 after five long years and 23 short-term extensions. So here we are, 10 years later, and the industry still doesn't have a higher PFC cap. Airports are still tapping approximately $3 billion in Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants that have remained, for the most part, at the same funding levels as they were in 2006. It its 2015 Capital Needs Survey, ACI-NA found that airports need $75.7 bil- lion between now and 2019, or $15.1 billion a year, to pay for capital development projects. Almost 40 percent of that figure is just to maintain a state of good repair, and keep airports up to standards for the aircraft that use them. My focus in Airport Business will be to look at the ways airports are finding and using nonaeronautical revenue to serve the airlines and their passengers. Areas of growth include parking, retail, food/beverage, hotels and cargo, to name a few. I'll also interview the movers and shakers who are changing the way airports are operated. I'm always open to story pitches, so if you have one, please send them to Benet.Wilson@aviationpros.com. And feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at @AvQueenBenet. A New Chapter in a Familiar Place Having traveled to more than two dozen airports around the world, I've seen how facilities are transforming to better serve their two main customers: airlines and the passengers that fly them.