Airport Management
Flight Delays One of the major reasons
for delays is bad weather. Another major cause is a bit less
atmospheric: Many U.S. airports are operating above capacity, which
causes air-traffic delays. One good solution is to build more runways,
except that it takes approximately 10 to 15 years to build new runways
because of the laws and regulations that govern their construction. A
major focus for reducing delays is on increasing the efficiency of our air traffic control system. |
If you have been keeping track of some of the statistics in the previous sections, you can see that airports are huge businesses. For example, you saw that a big airport can have over a hundred acres of floor space in the terminals, millions of cubic yards of concrete in the runways and hundreds of people staffing the facilities.
If you look at a page like this one, you can see just how big the business is. Denver's airport cost about $5-billion to build, and operating costs are $160-million per year.
Commercial airports are publicly owned and generally financed through municipal bonds. Airports typically own all of their facilities and make money by leasing them to airlines, air-freight companies and retail shops and services, as well as by charging for services like fuel and parking and through fees and taxes on airline tickets. The revenues pay off the municipal debt and cover the operating costs. Airports often require other sources of funding as well, such as airport bonds and government grants. But most airports are self-sustaining businesses once they become operational.
About 90 percent of employees at airports work for private companies, such as airlines, contractors and concessions. Most of the remaining 10 percent work directly for the airport as administrators, terminal- and grounds-maintenance personnel and safety crews. Air traffic controllers are employees of the federal government. Airports have their own departments of finance, personnel, administration and public relations, much like any city or municipality.
Airports with regularly scheduled flights are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and must also follow local and state government regulations. For more information on airports, see Airline Handbook: Airports and check out the links on the next page.
