Pursuit's Take
Nearly all the 3,330 airports in the national airport system in the United States are publicly-owned and operated. However, some argue that the private sector could better fund and operate airports than public owners. GAO reported in 1996 that many barriers to full privatization existed in the United States. In 1996, Congress created the APPP which reduced some of the barriers to privatization. However, over the program’s 18 years only two airports have privatized and one of them has reverted to public control.
Several factors reduce both public and private sector interest in airport privatization in the U.S.—such as higher financing costs for privatized airports and the possible lack of state and local property tax exemptions.
Furthermore, public sector airport owners have found ways to gain some of the potential benefits of privatization without ceding control under full privatization, such as entering airport management contracts and joint development agreements for managing and building an airport terminal.