Airports in the U.S. are largely government-owned, which isn’t how this works in much of the world. They rely heavily on federal funding, especially grants that come heavily-laden with conditions. That includes what’s come to be known as DEI but that’s actually explicit racial (and gender) quotas in contracting.
The Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programs, including the Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise initiative, will continue despite efforts by the Trump administration to end DEI in aviation and throughout the federal government. That’s because they’re written into law and regulation – they can’t simply be reversed by an Executive Order.
The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program is implemented under 49 CFR Part 26, and meant to ensure that minority-owned and women-owned businesses have equitable opportunities to participate in federally funded transportation projects.
The Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program is mandated by 49 U.S.C. § 47107(e) and governed by 49 CFR Part 23, specifically focusing on airport concessionaires. Established in 1987 and most recently amended in 2012, the ACDBE program aims to ensure that concession contracts at airports are accessible to disadvantaged businesses. That means restaurants, retail shops, and even bank and independent lounges.
- Airports cumulatively receiving grants of $250,000 or more in a federal fiscal year are required to implement.
- Contracts must be analyzed for meeting 3-year targets, gathering data from companies bidding and making sure all contracts contain required legal language supporting these goals.
- Airports must monitor contractor performance with respect to agreed-upon participation levels. They must also require certifications that prime contractors are paying their subcontractors on time.
- Written permission from the airport is required before a contractor can end a DBE subcontractor’s project participation.
- Yearly reports are required which are then reviewed by the FAA Office of Civil Rights. Airports have to keep policies, procedures, and documentation ready for audit.
Businesses seeking to participate in these programs must undergo a certification process, demonstrating that they are minority or women-owned making them eligible to bid on federal contracts, with contracting agencies mandated to meet specific participation goals, typically expressed as a percentage of total project contracts. Airports receiving federal funds are required to allocate a portion of their contracts in a quota system.
In practice, meeting these quotas often involves strategic partnerships between non-minority-owned businesses and minority-owned enterprises.
- Joint Ventures: Two or more businesses combine resources to bid on large projects, ensuring that minority participation criteria are met.
- Subcontracting: A primary contractor may hire a DBE or ACDBE as a subcontractor, allowing the minority-owned business to contribute specific services or components to the project.
Often these partnerships are superficial, with non-minority businesses partnering with minority-owned companies solely to satisfy regulatory requirements. The minority business gets paid for ‘participation’.
The President has ordered the FAA not to engage in diversity hiring, which includes in the hiring of air traffic controllers. The agency has, in the past, limited entry into training programs with a focus on diversity (but all candidates were still screened for competence, there’s no indication this compromised safety). Also rescinded is President Johnson’s Executive Order 11246, enacted on September 24, 1965, focused on federal hiring broadly.
However these efforts do nothing to end FAA contracting rules that explicitly impose racial and gender diversity quotas on airport contracting.
Looking forward to hearing about the fit pitching and breath holding by the Child-In-Chief when he finds out he really isn’t the Emperor he imagines himself to be.
Equal opportunity or special privileges?
I’m all for equal opportunity, but outcomes should be fairly based on other criteria.
Should there be DEI for upgrades. How about that all business and first class seats must be half women and 15% Black? If there are 30 seats and 20 have paid tickets (not paid upgrades), then the remaining 10 seats would be free upgrades for women if there weren’t enough women business passengers. 5 seats would be for Black or African American passengers.
Others may disagree, but a meritocracy is the only way to ensure a fair outcome across the board. This country has too many opportunities for any and all to be successful. Sure, someone may have to overcome their background regardless of what it might be. But giving opportunities away based solely on someone else’s idea of the perfect quota is quite the opposite of what America is supposed to be about. Some people certainly have had it harder than me as a middle class white man with both parents to love and support me. But if I chose to not have any ambition or pride in doing my best then I wouldn’t be where I am today no matter what my background happened to be. I truly hope we get to a place where DEI and quotas are long gone.
‘DEI’ is a ‘feel good’ idea by the left that has become a boogeyman of the right. Now, ‘abolishing’ it will just be the pretext for firing anyone disloyal, and those of certain backgrounds. Such changes solve nothing. How’s the ‘price of eggs’ going?
‘Airports in the U.S. are largely government-owned, which isn’t how this works in much of the world.’
Gary, I would disagree with that. Most European airports are private or private/public partnerships, but most major Asian airports are government owned (or owned by government enterprises). In some cases, provincial or state governments.
They may be managed by private parties in some cases, but ownership is state.
Affirmative action and quotas of any type are wrong and discriminate against certain businesses or individuals. Sure it can’t be overturned by EO but a law can be passed to end the practice and with GOP control of both houses of Congress I expect that will be forthcoming
@AC – “GOP control of both houses of Congress I expect that will be forthcoming”
I am willing to bet you that the Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program survives this Congress. What would you care to wager?
When they say equitable, or racial quota, how come some airports like SEA have probably 70% of its terminal employees being Somali / Erithrean / Ethiopian?
How is that equitable for the rest of the World?
I’m with the other Richard. Maybe these rules should be changed or at least revised, but the magical thinking that demanding everything be different just because you want it in the moment is the mindset of an entitled rock star or spoiled child. Anyway a pathological liar who thinks he can change the Constitution on his say so (or rename a large international body of water because it “sounds good”) isn’t going to get very far in the real world. Enablers will cheer him on but in time all these pronouncements will be dust.
After a South African, son of apartheid, gave the Nazi salute at the US presidential inauguration, I expect anything from that extremist and corrupt government…
Gary, What makes you so confident at the ACDBE program will survive? (Do you feel the same way about the overall DBE program?) There has been legislation in the past to end the DBE program, for example: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/832/all-info , and I would think such legislation has a greater chance of passing now, not less.
Sorry, wrong link. This is the link to the Mike Lee bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/5366
@LTL – Congress doesn’t legislate anymore. Maybe someone can get changes attached to FAA Reauthorization for fiscal 2029? This just isn’t going to be a priority in the current Congress.