ID: 15803
Autoria:
Josef Barat.
Fonte:
Revista de Administração Pública, v. 7, n. 3, p. 55-72, Julho-Setembro, 1973. 18 página(s).
Tipo de documento: Artigo (Português)
Ver Resumo
All over the world one notices a growing awareness of the need for modernization of national airport systems. The author proceeds from this general proposition on to study the Brazilian case. He attempts to identify the main needs and the conditioning factors involved in the process of modernization of the Brazilian airports. He proposes some suggestions for change which should bring about an increase in airport efficiency. Today's airports are increasingly more complex due to the recent developments in airplane technology, the ever more extensive use of air transportation, and the greater socioeconomic importance of air travel. Modern airports are vital elements in the dynamcs of urban development since they attract investments in industry and services into the area they serve. The changing economic needs in the developed countries generated the utilization of industrial and commercial management concepts in the administration of airport complex, whereas in Brazil air terminals are still owned and operated by the government. The author analyses the above mentioned concepts with a view to their applicability in the Brazilian case, but concludes that in Brazil the lack of financial and administrative resources drastically limits the possible usefulness of those concepts. The author's analysis of the financial resources available for airport modernization shows that while the volume of investments has increased in absolute numbers, the government's share of the investment has decreased in relative terms. Moreover, the increase was a consequence of the introduction of new types of airplanes rather than a function of economie growth. The author concludes that the present level of investment is insufficient to overcome the accumulated deficiencies and cover the future expansion of air traffic. In what regards administrative effciency, the Brazilian airports reflect the nation's economic complexity. There is a great concentration of traffic in the airports serving the more developed regions, whereas the airfields in impoverished areas have more social and political, and less economic, importance. The classic efficiency-or-equity dilemma obtains in the Brazilian airport administration. The increasing importance of air transportation has generated a need for a review of the governamental policies in that area. Airport planning should rely more on the tools of economic analysis, and make more extensive use of improved financial and managerial techniques. The author's final conclusion is that regional airports should be allowed to form holdings and be endowed with a certain degree of financial autonomy. That would permit the introduction of modern patterns of management and open the door to new forms of financing. To top it all, there should be instituted a system for the transfer of funds from the main airports to the other ones.
