Des Moines International Airport chief Kevin Foley told airport board members this week that the increase in passenger fees he has long sought to help pay for a new terminal fell out of a key spending bill in Congress at the last minute.

Federal regulations allow airports to charge up to $4.50 per flight segment, up to $18 total for an entire flight, as a “passenger facility charge.” That lid goes back 18 years. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the money can be used for “FAA-approved projects that enhance safety, security, or capacity; reduce noise; or increase air carrier competition.”

Airports have proposed increasing the fee to $8.50 per segment — which would adjust the fee for inflation. Airlines have fought hard against the move.

In Des Moines’ case, the higher fees, known as PFCs, would mean an extra $55 million in bonding capacity to replace the terminal, built in 1948, and to replace aprons and taxiways. The $5.2 million a year now coming from the PFCs would rise to nearly $10 million.

Foley had once again visited Washington, D.C., recently to lobby for the higher fee. It didn’t work. 

The feds did add $1 billion to the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program, which helps pay for many airport projects, but Foley noted that is a small amount of money spread across the country. “It is a recognition that airports need additional money,” he said.

Now, Foley said, backers are looking for another major bill that could be amended to include the higher passenger fee limit.

“The business community needs to stay in front of our congressional delegation and anyone else who will listen,” he said.