ABSTRACT
The grants-in-aid to airports program provide funds to air carriers and general-aviation airports. Funds are used for the construction and reconstruction of runways, taxiways, aircraft aprons, and public-use portions of terminals. Funds were also used for land acquisition for airport development and noise abatement. The grants are financed through the airport and airways trust fund, with approximately 90 percent of the program costs provided by taxes on passenger tickets and other minor excise taxes. This funding mechanism is important because it allows the authorizing committees greater autonomy in setting the level of program activity. The authorizing legislation for grants-in-aid to airports program expired at the end of fiscal year 1980. The program was not reauthorized in the reconciliation act. New program activity has been halted until some decision is reached on the attempts to "defederalize" the large airports by forcing them to raise funds from the commercial airlines using their facilities.
