Federal Aviation Administration's System for Prioritizing Airport Grants

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) system for prioritizing discretionary airport grant projects. GAO analyzed airport planning and development projects in four FAA regions to determine: (1) whether FAA funded the projects in conformance with its priority system; and (2) the basis for funding projects that ranked low under the system. GAO also reviewed the airports named in 1982 and 1983 congressional appropriation reports to determine whether naming airports for priority consideration caused FAA to fund low-priority projects.