Better Emergency Planning And Flexibility Needed in Crisis
Williams spoke at the annual conference of Airports Council International-North America, held in Toronto Sept. 18-21. He offered lessons for other airports in being flexible during a crisis, and underscored the urgency officials have in developing new ideas for funding U.S. airports.
ACI-NA officials already are looking forward to October 2007, when the Airport Improvement Program is due to be reauthorized. Capital improvement needs will total $71.5 billion between 2005 and 2009, said Greg Principato, president of ACI-NA. That amounts to $14 billion a year, well over the average of $3.6 billion a year allotted in the current program.