It is a phenomenon being repeated at airports all around the country. A survey conducted early this year by the Airports Council International-North America found that almost $20 billion of planned airport expansions have been delayed or canceled. Los Angeles, Miami, Charlotte and Phoenix are among those scaling back or freezing construction.
While the stalled economy had caused passenger numbers and revenues to drop during the first half of 2001, the postponements have less to do with cyclical trends than with passenger attitudes in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Airport projects can take 10 or 15 years to plan and construct, and for that reason, "managers are very intent on pushing forward," says Stephen Van Beek, vice president of policy for ACI-NA. "When they don't, you know there was a fundamental change in the industry."
Few expect, however, that the drop in passengers will be long lasting. While traffic now stands at 1999 levels of 600 million a year, Van Beek projects the industry will serve about a billion passengers annually by 2010. So among the projects that San Francisco slowed but didn't stop is runway reconfigurations. "Air traffic is going to recover," says Ron Wilson, an airport spokesman. "If we delayed the entire project, we'd be behind the eight ball."
