Airport Improvement Program: Reliever Airport Set-Aside Funds Could Be
Redirected (Letter Report, 06/30/94, GAO/RCED-94-226).

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides funding for projects
for general aviation airports called "relievers." Congress created this
set-aside to reduce congestion at commercial airports by improving
reliever airports and to provide general aviation with additional access
to airports. The reliever set-aside is at a crossroads. The conditions
that the reliever set-aside was created to address do not exist today,
largely because of a long and steady decline in general aviation
traffic--a trend unforeseen when the set-aside was created. FAA
acknowledges that the nation may have too many reliever airports but has
not done any detailed studies or analysis to identify which relievers
contribute to the national system of airports. Without data to identify
and prioritize reliever airports, FAA may be providing funds to
relievers that are not in a position to play a prominent role in the
nation's airport system. With the appropriate information, FAA would be
in a better position to target its resources to public-use airports that
could enhance the nation's air transportation system.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  RCED-94-226
     TITLE:  Airport Improvement Program: Reliever Airport Set-Aside 
             Funds Could Be Redirected
      DATE:  06/30/94
   SUBJECT:  Airports
             Federal aid for transportation
             Statistical methods
             Transportation safety
             Funds management
             Discretionary grants
             Future budget projections
             Commercial aviation
             Regulatory agencies
IDENTIFIER:  FAA Airport Improvement Program
             FAA National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
             FAA Aviation System Capacity Plan
             Chicago-O'Hare International Airport (Chicago, IL)
             Logan International Airport (Boston, MA)
             Midway International Airport (Chicago, IL)
             Houston Intercontinental Airport (TX)
             Houston Hobby Airport (TX)
             Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (AZ)
             Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Seattle, WA)
             
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