page_title: Infrastructure policy of Donald Trump
section_title: Civil aviation
hierarchical_section_title: Infrastructure policy of Donald Trump / Transportation / Civil aviation
caption_attribution_description: English: American Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (N805AN) at LAX
context_page_description: The infrastructure policy of Donald Trump includes ensuring U.S. energy independence, safeguarding the cybersecurity of the national power grid and other critical infrastructure, locking China out of the U.S. fifth-generation Internet market, and rolling back regulations to ease the process of planning and construction. While there have been no major infrastructure spending packages yet, some individual policies and projects have advanced piecemeal, especially in rural areas.
  Although there is recognition of the need to upgrade American infrastructure from both sides of the political aisle, as of April 2020, no major infrastructure bill has been passed due to disagreements over the details of such a spending package, namely, what to spend on, how much to spend, and how to pay for it. 'Infrastructure' is a rather broad term that means different things to different people.
context_section_description: Shortly after taking office in 2017, Donald Trump unveiled an infrastructure plan worth a trillion dollars that includes a $2.4-billion cut to federal transportation programs. This plan would eliminate subsidies for long-distance trains and commercial flights to rural communities with limited transportation options, including those that helped Trump win the presidency. He wanted to relieve the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of air traffic control and to turn it into a private nonprofit corporation.
  In June 2019, the FAA announced it was giving out $840 million in grants for improving airport facilities and President Trump proposed $17.1 billion in funding for the FAA. Trump's proposal made it through the House Appropriations Committee with $614 million more than requested. Therefore, the FAA had $17.7 billion to spend. Airport Improvement Programs (AIP) funds will go to over 380 airports in 47 states. One of the biggest grants is worth $29 million, which goes to runway reconstruction at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska. In addition, the House Appropriations Committee announced $3.3 billion in AIP grants to be handed out in 2020, plus $500 million for discretionary airport infrastructure spending.
  Some airliners themselves have been financing airport capital projects on their own. For example, American Airlines and Delta have committed $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively, to modernize the facilities they use at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Delta allocated another four billion dollars to the construction of a new terminal at the LaGuardia International Airport in New York City. At the same time, a number of airports are willing to spend money on their own facilities in order to reap the long-term economic benefits. In May 2019, the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) announced it would spend some $3.5 billion on a new terminal and on renovating an existing terminal for American Airlines, which uses the airport as one of its main hubs in the U.S.
  In early 2020, American airports saw their passenger numbers plummet due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. To help them cope with the crisis, the Trump administration provided $10 billion in financial aid with Congressional approval.
caption: Some airlines are spending their own money on airport facilities. Pictured: An American Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner at LAX.
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