Discounted tickets help airport keep subsidy

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Thu, 02/04/2010 - 4:33pm
Bob MacGregor
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Joined: 12/13/2003

In this economy, or in any other one for that matter, who wouldn’t like a 17,000 percent return on their investment? That’s how much Hancock County is expected to get in return when it decided to invest $5,000 in offering heavily discounted and free airplane tickets at its airport at the end of 2009. The county’s goal in the deal was to meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s threshold for providing the airport with $1 million in annual entitlement funds. To get the money, the airport has to have an annual total of at least 10,001 enplanements...........

So the County rolls the dice and spends $5000 to ensure the subsidy level stays at $1 million.

Good or bad investment?

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Thu, 02/04/2010 - 6:43pm
#1
Steven Scharf
User offline. Last seen 2 years 29 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 01/28/2002

Since it is not illegal, it was an exceelent investment. Whether it was a moral investment by government is a different question. They actually only made $845,000.

I suspect the funding comes from PFCs from other airports so it does not come out of the general funds of the federal government. There was some discussion at a Portland Jetport expansion meeting, that if we did not allocate our PFC to new projects, airports on the other leg of trips made by the planes would be able to access it. The traveler would pay the same PFC, it just would go to other airports.

The PFC for Portland at $4.50 rakes in millions (or so I am told).

Steven Scharf
SCSMedia@aol.com

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Thu, 02/04/2010 - 7:35pm
#2
Town Manager
User offline. Last seen 1 year 20 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 11/12/2006

I believe in Maine, only Hancock County, Presque Isle, Rockland and perhaps Augusta airports receive EAS dollars. Only Hancock had to do what it did to ensure the subsidy.

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