Actually, the $9.60 is the CPE (cost per enplanement) which is not a "fee" that is billed to the airlines as such but is a measure of the total charges that the airlines pay for airport operations divided by enplaned passengers (this measure is used to compare costs between airports).

Once several of the major capital projects come on-line (the new A Concourse, Central Terminal expansion, etc) the CPE will rise to over $25 (by 2005) making Sea-Tac one of the more expensive airports for the airlines to operate from.

Among the things that can be done to reduce the CPE are: (1) reduce airport operating costs [the subject of the article]; increase non-airline revenue [such as parking and concessions]; and reduce airport capital spending.

Another way that the CPE can go down is when enplanements go up - - that is what many airports (including Sea-Tac) banked on when they approved all the capital spending.

How times change . . .

[edited for spelling]

[This message has been edited by seauaflyer (edited 08-31-2003).]