The authority still is a public agency and answerable to elected officials but is charged with running the airport like a business. Political considerations may still loom large, as evidenced by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's long-running feud with the Port Authority over the poor quality of Kennedy and La Guardia airports. To consider this, people first have to understand what privatization means. During the past decade, more than 100 airports worldwide have been sold or leased long-term to private investors. They include major airports in Argentina, Australia, Britain, Mexico, New Zealand and South Africa.
Privatization is also under way in Italy and Germany.
At these privatized airports, the whole concept of what an airport is is changed. Instead of being simply a place to get people onto and off of airplanes, a privatized airport is seen as a business enterprise. Books have been written about the dramatically different corporate culture involved. For example, airports run as businesses provide far more space for retail stores and offer a much wider variety of brand-name goods and services at fair prices. They are much better about providing luggage carts and keeping restrooms clean and uncrowded.