BACKGROUND 

U.S. airports generate significant economic benefits for their surrounding communities that often do not result in revenues to the airports. Medium and small airports in the United States typically rely on federal funding and conventional revenue models that may no longer be sufficient to support necessary maintenance and expansion, and they need to supplement their incomes. At the same time, the industry is evolving rapidly, creating new opportunities and challenges. The identification and generation of airport revenue streams and financing are essential to maintain fiscal responsibility and realize future growth of the airports and the communities they serve. 

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this research are (1) create a guide and database for U.S.-based medium, small, and non-hub commercial service airports (see Special Note A) to increase and diversify revenue streams from existing and new sources; and (2) provide models for leveraging revenue sources to increase capital financing opportunities. The final deliverables should include case studies about relevant revenue opportunities, successful and unsuccessful, as well as best practices from domestic and international airport industries and from outside the aviation industry.

Additional revenue streams could include but are not limited to:

• Benefits and/or losses of choosing to insource vs. outsource;
• Leveraging new technologies;
• Additional local, municipal, state, and federal funding;
• Alternative concessions models;
• Ancillary amenities;
• Realizing fair-market value and/or additional development of real estate; and
• Realizing value of existing contracts.

The guide should include at a minimum:

• A summary of current practices that defines the scale of the national issue and discusses traditional revenue streams;
• A synopsis of traditional and novel capital financing options;
• A discussion on airport management best practices for revenue loss prevention;
• A minimum of five case studies that successfully leverage enhanced revenue to finance capital improvement; and
• Tools for validating revenue from existing contracts (third party verification, utilizing available data sources, etc.) 

The database of revenue enhancement initiatives should include at a minimum:

• Key characteristics and profile of the airport and partners involved in the initiative;
• The potential financial benefit including costs incurred;
• Key considerations and necessary criteria for implementing each initiative; and
• Examples of how the revenue enhancements led to financing capital improvements.

RESEARCH PLAN

The research plan shall include the appropriate interim deliverables for ACRP review and approval that include at a minimum:

• A white paper that defines the scale of the national issue and discusses traditional revenue streams within 45 days from Notice to Proceed;
• A data collection plan for accomplishing the research objective that includes the proposed case studies and their selection criteria; 
• The format and proposed elements of the database; and
• An interim report to include research results to date, analysis of results, next steps, an annotated outline of the guide, and identification of follow-on research ideas to be developed into problem statements.

 The research plan should include checkpoints with the ACRP panel that include at a minimum:

• A kick-off web meeting to be held within 1 month of the Notice to Proceed;
• One face-to-face interim deliverable review meeting; 
• One-hour web meeting to be held in the week following the delivery of each Quarterly Progress Report; and
• Web meetings tied to the panel review and ACRP approval of other interim deliverables deemed appropriate.

The final deliverables will include: 

• The guide and database;
• A Contractor’s Final Report documenting all research steps, results, and analysis;
• A Summary of Key Findings;
• The Further Recommended Research Memo; and 
• A technical memo titled, “Implementation of Research Findings and Products”.

STATUS: Proposals have been received in response to the RFP.  The project panel will meet to select a contractor to perform the work.