US Airports Face $173.9 Billion Five-Year Investment Need as Federal IIJA Airport Funding Expires After FY2026
Why It MattersCapital programmes at large hubs, already slipping at O'Hare, now face a funding cliff while demand grows, leaving the fixed Passenger Facility Charge cap as the main local lever.
Airports Council International, North America (ACI-NA) estimates that US airports need $173.9 billion in infrastructure investment over the next five years, while the federal airport funding provided under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) expires after FY2026, with no new funding authorised beyond that year, according to the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). The IIJA provided $25 billion in airport funding over five years, including about $5 billion for the Airport Terminal Program (ATP). In the final ATP round, 588 applications sought $7.1 billion, but the FAA released $970 million in FY2026 discretionary grants across 133 projects at 129 airports.
Demand is rising. ACI-NA projects close to one billion US enplanements in 2025, rising to 1.4 billion by 2040 and 1.7 billion by 2050, and the FAA projects annual passenger traffic growth of 2.5% between 2023 and 2044. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) reports domestic enplanements of 629.5 million in 2010, 811.4 million in 2019 and 819.5 million in 2023. ACI-NA says US airports support 12.8 million jobs, $619 billion in annual payroll and $1.8 trillion in annual economic output. Citing the FAA's 2024 national capacity evaluation, ASCE reports that 11 airports are forecast to face runway capacity constraints by 2028, rising to 14 by 2033.
Large-hub capital programmes running through 2030 and beyond are put at $145-155 billion. Urbanize Chicago reports that O'Hare's $8.5 billion expansion, announced in 2018 with a 2026 completion date, has been pushed back to 2034; Satellite Concourse 1 (19 gates) is due in 2028, the Global Terminal in 2032 and Satellite 2 in 2034.
The funding gap varies by baseline. ASCE's 2025 Infrastructure Report Card estimates airport capital needs at about $310 billion over 2024-2033, up from $237 billion in its 2021 report. ASCE estimates a $114 billion shortfall over the next decade if IIJA investment levels hold flat from 2026, widening to $162 billion if federal investment falls back to pre-IIJA levels, a $48 billion difference. The Passenger Facility Charge has been capped at $4.50 per enplaning passenger since 2000, according to ACI-NA, and lifting the cap requires congressional action.
