Houston Airport System FY2027 Budget Presentation – May 13, 2026
Houston Airport System FY2027 Budget Presentation – May 13, 2026
The council received a presentation from Houston Airport System Director Jim Sisniak and CFO Clint Stevens on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. The presentation highlighted record passenger traffic, significant capital investments, and a focus on maintaining competitive costs and improving customer experience. No formal votes were taken; the session was solely informational with questions and comments from council members and two public speakers.
Discussion Items
- Revenue and Passenger Growth: The airport system served 62 million passengers in the previous year, generating an estimated $40 billion in annual economic impact, $2.4 billion in state and local taxes, and zero dollars from the city's general fund. Revenue for FY2027 is projected to increase to approximately $779 million, driven by higher landing fees, terminal rents, parking revenue (up 6%), and retail/concessions (up 13%).
- Expenditures: Total expenditures are budgeted at $510.4 million, an increase of $37 million (nearly 8%) over the FY2026 estimate. Personnel costs rose 11.2% due to new facilities (nearly one million square feet and two miles of curb) requiring additional custodians and higher health insurance costs. Contracted services increased 6.1%, primarily due to scheduled increases and a new parking contract.
- Capital Projects and Infrastructure: Approximately $1.7 billion in combined airport and airline projects are underway, including the Terminal B project (United), Hobby concourse expansion and new baggage hall, restroom renovations, and airfield improvements. Upcoming projects include a runway upgrade at Hobby (Runway 4/22) and a clearway extension at Ellington Airport. The airport is also investing in technology upgrades, such as camera systems, a failover IT site, and LIDAR-based passenger wait time monitoring.
- Federal Funding and Cost Competitiveness: The airport receives about $100 million annually in federal grants (FAA entitlements and discretionary funds). Cost per enplanement is $10.66 at IAH and $8.01 at Hobby, both competitive compared to peer airports. This metric is important for retaining airline service; higher costs at competing hubs (e.g., Chicago O’Hare, Austin) may benefit Houston.
- Sustainability and Service Goals: The airport is at Level 3 of Airport Carbon Accreditation and working with stakeholders to progress further. Other initiatives include a sensory room at Hobby, a potential lounge at Hobby, and continued air service development (209 destinations, soon 210 with United’s Caracas service).
- Council Questions: Council Member Romares inquired about federal funding streams and police/firefighting overtime costs. Vice Chair Castillo asked about sustainability accreditation and technology integration. Council Member Flickinger suggested exploring privatization of security in light of federal funding risks. Director Sisniak noted that passenger facility charges are at the federally capped $4.50 (net $4.39 after airline administrative fee).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Laura Gallier: Asked about the U.S. Department of Transportation’s $1 billion “Make Travel Family Friendly” grant. Director Sisniak responded that the application process is ongoing and no award has been made yet. Ms. Gallier expressed hope that Houston would receive funding.
- Doug: Commented on the airport’s goal to maintain five‑star ratings and questioned the drop in Hobby’s rating. He also asked about plans to consolidate finance and technology functions into citywide departments. Director Sisniak noted that airport finance is highly specialized due to federal grants; a separate IT workshop was scheduled for the following day.
Key Outcomes
- No formal decisions or votes were taken. The presentation served to inform the council of the proposed FY2027 budget.
- Council members expressed appreciation for the presentation and the work of the airport team.
- The meeting adjourned with a reminder that the next day’s session (May 14, 2026) would cover health, municipal courts, information technology, ARA administration, and human resources.
Meeting Transcript
I want to welcome Houston Airport System Director Jim Sisniak and Clint Stevens to present the proposed Houston Airport Systems Department budget presentation. Before you start, I have gone through this. And I also attend regularly the economic development committee meetings. So, in the most polite way I can say, you don't have to go through every slide of things that we've just seen at economic development if we want to just focus on the numbers. Okay. So I'm going to I'll I'll whiz through the whiz through that. You're doing great work, but I feel like we've all heard that pretty recently. Okay. So next slide, please. And then next slide, please. I'll kind of whiz through. One of the ones key things, just a refresh of what we did with last year's budget. 62 million passengers came through our airport systems. Next slide, please. And then, you know, again, the general economic impact of the airport. It's about 40 billion dollars annually. Importantly for y'all, it's about 2.4 billion in state and local taxes that we generate and zero dollars from the city of Houston general fund. Next slide, please. Again, growth. So our our key thing ultimately is that as the region continues to grow, the airport continues to grow. Next slide, please. Again, but we are making you know significant improvements in customer satisfaction at the airport, so that's a good thing for us as we spend our money wisely. Next slide, please. This is a key one though that's a little bit new that we haven't really brought uh I don't think before you all uh before. Um this year's looking like a record year for us as far as the fact that we've we're gonna you know collectively between the HAS and the airline projects that we're working at the airport, about 1.7 billion dollars is getting poured into the uh local economy uh between what we've doing, we're doing as the airport, and then also the Terminal B project at United, and then United's um flight kitchen and then GSE, and then also the hobby project. So I'm very very proud of that. Next slide, please. Uh again, opening the new facilities, that's a wonderful thing for everybody. Uh next slide. And then just again, some pictures of the Terminal B project that's gonna be opening in this fiscal year, uh, the hobby project that's gonna open in this fiscal year. Next slide, please. Um, hobby concourse expansion, the big thing that's really gonna change there for the general travel public, besides the um the new gates is gonna be the bag hall. That's gonna be great. Next slide, please. Uh and importantly, because again, Mayor Whitmeyer is very uh um focused on making sure we got a good experience there. The restrooms continue to get renovated over there, so again, completing a lot of renovations at hobby, and then also Bush just opened a new set on Friday over by American Airlines and continue to do restroom upgrades. Next slide, please. Uh, and then airfield improvements. You know, we've always got to make sure that we've got a safe safe operating environment for for the traveling public. Next slide. Uh very proud of the team. Again, we do we do keep track of some of our accomplishments, but really particularly uh and uh proud of the hobby team. They were actually named uh hobby was named cleanest airport in North America this year, so very excited for the team over there. I told them they were essentially national champions. Um, so they're very excited. Um next slide, please. Okay, so now we get to the numbers. Um just want to talk about revenue for the year. So again, if we are projecting a revenue increase um for some to about 779 uh million dollars, um and so that's again an increase for us uh over last year. Next slide, please.
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