Information on Airport and Airway Trust Fund Revenues and Outlays by States and Large Airports

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on revenues contributed to and disbursed from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which the Federal Aviation Administration operates. The fund was established to ensure that air-user taxes are expended only for the expansion, improvement, and maintenance of the national air transportation system. GAO expressed reservations about its study because: (1) it could only estimate the amount of revenue attributable to each airport based on the number of passengers handled rather than on the amount paid into the fund by each airport; and (2) it could not allocate certain fund outlays by state or airport and had to estimate disbursements for certain activities, such as operations and maintenance.