Summary

The Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1992 created the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Airport Improvement Program to ensure the expansion, the improvement, and the maintenance of the nation's air transportation system. The program provides grants for airport development, airport planning, noise compatibility planning, and noise abatement. Between fiscal years 1984 and 1992, program obligations rose from $810 million to $1.9 billion. This report provides the total amount of program funds obligated to each state during that period and the number of enplanements--all paying passengers on a scheduled or a chartered flight--by each state for each of the relevant fiscal years.

GAO found that: (1) between 1984 and 1992, the top five states that received AIP funding were California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois; (2) the total number of enplanements grew from about 310 million in 1982 to 499 million in 1990; (3) AIP obligations grew from $810 million in 1984 to $1.9 billion in 1992; (4) although airline passenger ticket taxes have accounted for about 68 percent of trust fund revenues, the airlines and federal agencies do not collect or report individual ticket taxes; (5) tax funds are collected by airlines and submitted to the Internal Revenue Service for deposit into the Treasury; (6) nearly one-half of AIP obligations are for entitlements, 24.5 percent are set-aside, and the remaining funds are obligated at the discretion of the FAA Administrator; and (7) although the primary purposes of the Fund are to ensure the overall safety and efficiency of the nation's airspace system operations and fund AIP projects, funding legislation does not contain provisions requiring that the distribution of AIP grant funds correspond to flight enplanement.