Airport Alert: Senate Clears $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package; $8 Billion for Airports Remains Intact

March 6, 2021

After working through the night, the Senate just passed the American Rescue Plan – a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that retains $8 billion for airports and concessionaires.  Before passing the measure on a party-line vote, lawmakers rejected a long list of Republican amendments but did not vote on proposals to cut or eliminate airport funding.

Late yesterday, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) filed an amendment that would have slashed airport funding by 67 percent, and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) filed another amendment that would have zeroed out funding for airports and concessionaires. But neither lawmaker offered their amendment on the Senate floor.

The Senate previously stripped out a controversial proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and made other changes to the massive coronavirus relief package.  At the beginning of the debate yesterday, lawmakers held a vote open for almost 12 hours as they worked behind the scenes to cut a deal with Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) on unemployment benefits.

The revised American Rescue Plan will now go back to the House where that chamber is expected to approve the Senate-passed measure.  After the House finishes its work, Democratic leaders intend to send the coronavirus relief package to the President so he can sign it into law by March 14, when unemployment benefits are set to expire. 

We would like to thank all you who weighed in with your Senators yesterday and urged them to reject the Johnson and Lee amendments.  We would also like to thank you for helping to convince your lawmakers in both chambers to include another round of airport funding in the latest coronavirus relief package.

The American Rescue Plan will raise the total amount of coronavirus relief funding that Congress has provided to airports and concessionaires in the past year to $20 billion.  That is an unprecedented amount that underscores the enormous financial impact that the pandemic is having on airports and the entire aviation ecosystem.

Aviation Provisions in the American Rescue Plan

Airport Funding:  The bill includes $8 billion to help airports and concessionaires "prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus." 

Primary Airports: Of that amount, $6.492 billion would be reserved for primary airports and certain cargo airports to use for "costs related to operations, personnel, cleaning, sanitization, janitorial services, combating the spread of pathogens at the airport, and debt service payments." The federal share would be 100 percent. 

Non-Primary Commercial Service/General Aviation Airports: The bill includes $100 million for nonprimary commercial service and general aviation airports with a 100 percent federal share. 

Concessionaries: The measure also provides primary airports $800 million "to provide relief from rents and minimum annual guarantees to airport concessions." Of that amount, $640 million would be reserved for "small" airport concessions and $160 million for "large" airport concessions.   

Federal Share for AIP Grants:  The bill includes $608 million to pay "a Federal share of 100 percent of the costs for any grant awarded in fiscal year 2021, or in fiscal year 2020 with less than 100 percent federal share…." 

Eligibility:  Any airport that received more than four years of operating expenses under the CARES Act would be ineligible for these funds.  

Workforce Retention:  As a condition of receiving funds in the bill an airport is required to "employ, through September 30, 2021, at least 90 percent of the number of individuals employed (after making adjustments for retirements or voluntary employee separations) by the airport as of March 27, 2020."   
 
The Secretary of Transportation may waive the workforce retention requirement for airports that would experience "economic hardship as a direct result of the requirement" or if the requirement reduces aviation safety or security.  The workforce retention requirement does not apply to non-hub or nonprimary airports. 

The final bill includes language that says any airport that fails to comply with the workforce retention requirement and does not otherwise qualify for a waiver or exception "shall be subject to clawback by the Secretary." 

Payroll Support Program:  The American Rescue Plan would extend the Payroll Support Program for the airline industry. Specifically, the bill includes $14 billion to extend the PSP through September 30 for airline workers and another $1 billion for contractors.