Item No.      6d_Supp 1 
Date of Meeting: March 5, 2013 
Passenger Facility Charges: 
Background and Role 
Port of Seattle Commission Briefing 
February 26, 2013

Background 
Anti-Head Tax Act enacted by Congress in 1973
after Supreme Court rejected airline efforts to
stop airports from charging per person rates 
FAA Reauthorization Act in 1990 amended Anti-
Head Tax Act to create PFC program as
exemption to earlier prohibition 
Authorized airport governing bodies to impose a
PFC of $3.00 without violating Anti-Head Tax
Act 
FAA Reauthorization Act in 2000 increased PFC
cap to $4.50

Background 
PFCs are collected by airlines on the ticket and
remitted (minus administrative fee) to airports 
Can be charged only on initial two legs of
itinerary. 
Can only be used for aeronautical capital
expenses 
$4.50 in 2000 dollars is worth ~$2.45 in 2013
dollars 
All 29 large hub airports collect PFCs










PFC use at Sea-Tac 
Port levied PFC in 1992 and increased it to
$4.50 in 2001 
Collected $956 million to date 
PFCs have helped fund: 
Concourse A 
Construction of 16R / 34L 
Noise Projects 
Reconstruction of Satellite Transit System 
Project costs paid by PFCs are not included in
airline rates 

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Flickr/Digital Cat 

See Also 



London's Future Airport Could Float On The Thames 


American Airlines Blames Loose Seats On Soda 


The 10 Best Airlines In The U.S. 

Some people brush off airplane codes as one of life's little mysteries. Boston's airport code is BOS, which is simple enough, but EWR for Newark is just "one of those things." Right? 

Turns out there's a rhyme and reason for just about every airport code out there. An article originally published in December 1994 in Air Line Pilots journal by Dave English explains nearly every
mysterious airport code you've ever come across. 

In the early 20th century, there were only a handful of "airports," which in reality were just any area big enough for a plane to land or take off. But when other airports started cropping up in the
1930s, the previous coding system had to be reevaluated. The airports with two-letter weather station codes received an X on the end (LA became LAX and Portland's PD became PDX), and
every subsequent airport was given three letters. 

Those three letters were usually the first three letters of the city name  Atlanta became ATL, Boston is BOS, etc. But in some cases, the codes are a little more confusing: 
1. An airport code is named after the airport itself: Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris is CDG, John F. Kennedy airport in New York is JFK. 

2. The airport is named after the location: Harrisburg International airport is actually located in Middletown, Pennsylvania, and is known as MDT. 

3. The airport is named after a historical figure: Knoxville airport in Tennessee was built on land donated by the Tyson Family in honor of their son killed in WWI (TYS). 

4. Locations beginning with an 'N': The Navy saved all of the new 'N' codes for itself, thus Newark becomes EWR, while the Navy training airport in Pensacola, Florida is NPA. 

5. Locations beginning with W or K are only for radio stations east and west of the Mississippi, respectively. So Wilmington, North Carolina becomes ILM and Key West, Florida is EYW. 

6. 'Q' is designated for international telecommunications. 

7. 'Z' is reserved for special uses: ZCX is the computer address of FAA's air traffic control headquarters, for example. 

8. Canadians got all the 'Y' codes. YUL for Montreal, YYZ for Toronto, and so on. 

The system gets even more complex if you take into account all of the new, smaller airports that were given codes with numbers or four letter combinations. Not to mention international airports
and flights  for example, all flights entering the US have airport codes with a 'K' in front of the original three-letter code (Key West then gets to be called KEYW). 

There isn't really a need for you to remember all of these facts given that most tickets and airlines will display not only the airport code, but the name and location of your destination as well. But at
least the next time you fly into Newark, you'll remember why its code is EWR. 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/airport-codes-explained-2012-10#ixzz2A9xJxjhg fu 
PFCs have partially or fully funded $___ million in projects via

Financial Benefit 
PFCs can reduce debt issuance and/or pay for debt
service 
On pay-as-you-go basis (e.g., noise projects), PFCs
can be substituted  dollar for dollar -- for debt
issuance 
If used to pay debt service (e.g., third runway), a PFC
revenue stream pays debt service on projects 
Considered most efficient due to matching PFC
cash flow with life of project 
Also serve as "additional revenue" and increase
ratio of funds available vs. debt service, increasing
Port debt service coverage (rating agencies use
different calculation) 
Could help fund FIS, NorthStar, 16C/34C reconstruction

Current Airport Industry Concerns 
Declining value of PFCs, last increased in 2000 
Increased debt issuance 
Pressure on airline cost per enplanement 
Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funds
declining; maximum appropriations in 2015 will
equal half of 2006 appropriations (constant $) 
Vast majority of authorized PFCs are already
committed to projects; little capacity remaining

National Airport Policy Proposal 
Airport industry has advocated since 2005 an
increase in federal cap on PFC's to allow local
airport governing bodies to determine best
means of funding airport projects 
While FAA Reauthorization will not be
considered by Congress till 2015, current search
for federal spending cuts presents an immediate
opportunity 
Action may take place in connection with
"sequestration" (March 1); end of Continuing
Resolution (March 27); Budget deadline (April
15); and debt ceiling action (late May)

National Airport Policy Proposal 
US Policy Board of ACI-NA and many large hub
airports have proposed reducing federal AIP
spending coupled with changes in PFC rules 
Raise PFC cap to $8.50 for all airports and cut
$1.9 billion in AIP (last quarter of entitlement
spending) 
Allow larger airports to raise their PFC further if
they give up all access to AIP  saving as much
as $4.4 billion in AIP (figures are over 10 years) 
Large airports reducing demand on, or leaving, AIP
program will help preserve declining appropriations
for smaller airports

National Airport Policy Proposal 
Congressional action would only adjust the cap
on the PFC and establish lower budgets for
future AIP spending 
Any actual change in PFC levels imposed at
airports would be the prerogative of the local
governing boards of airports 
Port staff would evaluate change in PFC level as
one option in Plan of Finance, and bring
recommendation to Commission

Policy Proposal 
Staff requests Commission authorization for the
Chief Executive Officer and Port staff to advocate
for amendments to the federal statute governing
the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) program to
give locally elected officials at public airports
authority to increase the PFC above the current
limit of $4.50. 
-------------------------------- 
If Congress changes the caps, Port staff would
evaluate merit of changing PFC levels as part of
Plan of Finance and make recommendation to the
Commission.