Airport Authority Says 2009 Was a Tough Year

2009 was a tough year for many businesses and families, and it was no different for the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, which runs Louisville International Airport and Bowman Field. Executive Director Skip Miller says the economy has forced everyone to tweak budgets.“We deferred and reduced our capital major maintenance budgets for 2010 by over 15-million dollars and in addition to that, we’re reduced our operating budget by an additional million dollars, all in an effort to match up our revenue stream with our expense stream and we’re staying right on target with that budget with six months now under our belt," says Miller.He says availability of seats traveling out of Louisville went down in 2009, but so did fares.The airline industry as a whole suffered a net loss in North America of nearly three-million dollars in 2009. In 2010, the North American market is expected to suffer a two-billion dollar net loss.