The American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) applauded House leaders for including airports, airlines, and airport concessionaires into an updated version of the HEROES Act, a second large stimulus package to provide financial relief during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“With the aviation industry struggling to deal with the impacts of COVID-19 and with the prospects for recovery growing increasingly uncertain, we are grateful to Speaker Pelosi and House Democratic leaders for their efforts to advance meaningful relief to airports, airlines, and concessionaires,” AAAE President and CEO Todd Hauptli said. “Aviation not only allows for the movement of people and goods across the country and around the planet, it is also the oxygen that fuels our economy, and we need a healthy industry in order to return to a healthy economy. The scale and scope of this crisis require immediate action, and we are gratified that both parties in both chambers of Congress have signaled their support for providing relief to airports and the aviation ecosystem.”
The Democratic proposal would include $13.5 billion in resources for airports to keep workers on the job and to address ongoing financial obligations such as debt payments and increased operational spending for cleaning and sanitizing brought on by the pandemic, the association said.
“Most of the funds are allocated based on each airport’s enplanements and not less than 25 percent of which is for these airports to provide assistance to the restaurants and retailers located at the airport (i.e., concessions). The remaining funds pay for the local share of grants planned for fiscal year 2021 and provide economic relief to small airports,” the proposed appropriations bill said.
The bill would also provide $75 million to preserve scheduled passenger air service for small communities and $50 million to provide FAA employees with personal protective equipment and ensure that FAA facilities are cleaned and disinfected.
With passenger levels down as much as 95 percent industry-wide at the height of government stay-at-home orders, the industry has only started its recovery and is at 25 to 30 percent of previous levels, the association said. Because of that, billions in revenue has disappeared, while billions for debt and bond principal and interest payments are due in 2020.
“The proposed funding included in the House Democratic package would help airports, airlines, and concessionaires weather the storm of dramatically reduced passengers, which appears likely for the foreseeable future,” Hauptli added. “We look forward to working with the bipartisan leadership of Congress to gain passage of a final package that helps airports and the entire aviation ecosystem survive through the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.”