SFO forecasts modest recovery, flags vacancies and rising debt service in two‑year budget

San Francisco’s airport is projecting a slow recovery from the pandemic and modest budgetary gains while warning elected officials that debt service and vacancies will shape its near‑term choices. At a May 18 hearing before the county Budget & Appropriations Committee, an airport representative said fiscal‑year‑to‑date passenger traffic stood at “58 percent of our pre COVID numbers through April,” with domestic travel recovering faster than international service.

The airport presented a two‑year budget that anticipates $31,000,000 in annual service payments for FY22 — roughly $7 million above the adopted budget — and describes debt service as a growing share of expenses because of an ongoing capital program that managers described as multibillion‑dollar in scale. The presentation said the airport proposes roughly 24 positions in FY23 and four more in FY24, and reported a current vacancy rate near 21 percent.

Why it matters: the airport contributes a share of passenger‑related revenue to the city’s general fund and its operating assumptions affect both user fees and the city budget. Committee members focused on staffing and how personnel underruns flow through rate‑making to airlines.

In response to a question about vacancy budgeting, the airport representative said the agency had committed to no layoffs early in the pandemic and had not been backfilling many roles: “That that is correct. We made that commitment early on to our staff of no layoffs.” The representative also said the airport’s attrition budget is lower than current vacancies — roughly 6 percent — and that unused personnel funds are generally reconciled in rates and charges at year‑end.

Supervisors pressed the airport on workforce pipelines. The airport said it is expanding internship and apprenticeship pathways, including career‑path programs and an “SFO Academy” to support A&P and other technical training for local residents. On concessions, staff reported they are using a $50,000,000 support fund and have suspended minimum annual guarantees until passenger counts reach 80 percent of base‑year levels.

What’s next: the Budget & Appropriations Committee continued the overall budget items to its May 25 meeting; the airport and other departments will return for further review and BLA reports.