"Passenger taxes pay for work at smaller airports"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Monday, April 16, 2007 

Passenger taxes pay for work at smaller airports
By JOHN SEEWER 
The Associated Press


Jennifer Troiano's commute includes a 10-minute flight each morning.
Sometimes she's the only passenger.

It's the only way the kindergarten teacher can get to work on Lake Erie's
South Bass Island when ferry boats stop operating in the winter. The tiny
airport that serves the island is a lifeline, she said.
   
Put-in-Bay Airport, like many small airstrips around Ohio, relies on taxes
and fees from airline tickets bought by passengers flying out of major
airports to cover the costs of buying snowplows and removing trees near the
end of the runway.

Some of these "general aviation" facilities used the money - more than $7
billion over the past decade - to accommodate a growing number of private
jets, an Associated Press review has found. But the money comes with little
oversight, and at the expense of an increasingly beleaguered air
transportation system.

These small airports that mostly cater to private pilots and corporate jets
use the federal money to improve runways, add safety features such as lights
and build sound barriers.

At Put-in-Bay, the money also paid for a fence to stop golf cart drivers on
the resort island from wandering onto the runway. The airport manager used
to shout into a bullhorn to steer the carts away.

Passengers pay as many as six separate taxes and fees on a single airline
ticket, adding up to more than $104 billion over the past decade, the AP
found.

The taxes and fees pay for the Federal Aviation Administration and its air
traffic control operations and security operations at the nation's
commercial hubs.

Congress will decide later this year whether to end the subsidy for the
hundreds of smaller airports that also are among the beneficiaries.

Airline operators and consumer groups are pushing for a change, saying it's
not fair for passengers to pay for small airports they don't use.

"We're not saying money shouldn't be going to those airports," said John
Heimlich, vice president and chief economist at the Air Transport
Association, a trade group representing the airlines. "We're saying it
shouldn't be our money."

The Federal Aviation Administration distributes the money to airports that
apply for grants through the Airport Improvement Program. The FAA says the
money must go toward safety, capacity, security, and environmental projects.

Airport managers say the smaller airports relieve crowding at major airports
by serving corporate jets and are vital to Ohio's economy by helping attract
businesses.

"A lot of communities view small airports as a place where the rich kids go
to fly their airplanes," said Daniel Stover, aviation director at Marion
Municipal Airport. "That's certainly not the case here."

The airport, about 40 miles north of Columbus, is connected to an industrial
park. Corporate jets land during the day, and planes filled with freight
come in at night.
Small airports are well-positioned to take last-minute deliveries of parts
for factories, Stover said.

The airport used money from the passenger tax to build a taxiway to a window
manufacturer's factory that provided 1,000 jobs.

"The airport was a big requirement for them," Stover said. "Without that
money we wouldn't be anywhere."

The Knox County Airport in Mount Vernon has received more federal money -
$4.5 million - over the last two years than any other small airport in the
state, according to the FAA.

Much of the money went toward leveling a runway and adding 900 feet to it,
said airport manager Marla Elliott. "It really didn't pose immediate danger,
but you need to care of problems," she said.

Erie-Ottawa Regional Airport in Port Clinton is improving its lighting and
shifting the direction of its main runway because new federal safety rules
say it's too close to a busy road.

The airport near the Lake Erie shore has received $1.4 million from the
passenger tax in the last two years and will get $1.6 million this year,
said manager Jack Stables.

"People would be surprised by the thousands of people that come through this
airport," he said.

Some are famous. Bill Cosby has flown in for his shows in nearby Sandusky,
former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev came for a speech and rocker Bob
Seger flew in to buy a boat.

"We get a lot of high rollers who come in and do some shopping," Stables
said.
The airport also is where planes leave loaded with food and mail for the
Lake Erie islands in the winter.

"These airports are essential to every person that lives on the islands,"
said Monica Drake, manager of the Put-in-Bay Airport along with the
airstrips on Middle Bass and North Bass islands.

A plane ride is the only way to get to the doctor and dentist when the ferry
boats stop running. And it's a must when the power goes out.

American Sanders, a troubleshooter for Ohio Edison, makes frequent trips by
air in the winter. "You don't have a choice," he said. "It cuts down on the
outage time."

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