From Aviationweek.com 2006 February
FAA for the second year in a row proposed hefty cuts to its Airport Improvement Program (AIP) in its budget request, and airports will have to wait to see whether Congress will again restore the axed funds.
FAA's Fiscal Year 2007 budget, released yesterday, is down nearly 4% from last year's funding level to $13.7 billion. AIP grants were cut by $765 million to $2.75 billion; facilities and equipment (F&E) money was down by about $50 million to $2.5 billion, and the operations budget increased by $262 million to $8.4 billion. Research and development funding was reduced by $7 million to $130 million.
Last year, FAA tried to cut AIP funds by about $500 million in the FY 2006 budget, but Congress eventually reversed the cut after intense lobbying by airport groups. The angry reaction of the Airport Legislative Alliance (ALA) to the latest budget proposal indicates the airport community is again preparing for battle.
"Once again, the Adminstration has resorted to a cynical shell game [by] proposing to dramatically underfund the FAA's capital programs in order to satisfy an ever-increasing operations budget," said ALA Senior VP Todd Hauptli. "We urge Congress to once again reject this misguided proposal and to fully fund the AIP and the F&E account."
The Air Transport Association, however, was more forgiving of the AIP cuts. "The FAA and the Administration had to make some difficult budget choices...
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