The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority on Sept. heard a presentation of its fiscal 2026 preliminary budget, which proposes about $979.5 million in revenue for Orlando International Airport and roughly $7 million for the Orlando Executive Airport; the presentation was informational and required by statute.

The budget matters because airport operating costs and capital plans drive airline rates and charges and because GOAA does not use local property-tax dollars to fund airport operations. Kathleen Charman, GOAA chief financial officer, told the council that less than half of revenue (about 43 percent net of revenue sharing) comes from airline payments; the rest comes from non-aeronautical sources such as parking, ground transportation and rental cars.

Charman said the FY26 operating and maintenance budget increases about 8.4 percent over the prior year, and that people costs are the largest component of operating expenses (about 23 percent). The preliminary plan includes funding for 18 new positions, investments in technology, and customer-experience initiatives; it also accounts for opening eight additional narrow-body gate access positions in 2026. The authority projects all legal debt-service-coverage requirements will be met and described a plan to use remaining revenues to keep assets in a state of good repair, fund the capital program and provide revenue-sharing to airline partners.

Council members had no formal questions requiring a vote; the mayor opened the public hearing for the informational presentation and no council action was taken. Representatives of GOAA in the chamber included board chair Stephanie Kapoleusis, vice chair Joe Nunziato and treasurer Dan Giordano; Kathleen Charman delivered the budget summary.

Because the hearing was informational, the council did not vote on the budget at this meeting; GOAA’s board is scheduled to consider final adoption of its budget at its September meeting. For additional detail, GOAA’s preliminary budget documents are available from the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.