Philadelphia International Airport CEO Chellie Cameron has been elected to be a top advocate to Congress and the Biden Administration representing America’s airports as the travel industry continues its struggles from the pandemic, writes Catherine Duhn for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Cameron was elected to a two-year term as chairman of the Airports Council International North America U.S. Policy Council.

Her first action will be to secure $17 billion in relief for commercial airports nationwide.

Check out this Fox29 news video on the COVID-19 testing site at the airport.

“We just can’t keep up in this environment in a situation that we really didn’t create,” Cameron said. “And ultimately we think airports are important enough to communities to be able to justify that expenditure of dollars.”

The $17 million request is based on estimates of revenue lost from airline passenger traffic and the cost for COVID-19 safety measures.

Passenger volume at Philadelphia International Airport is down almost 70 percent over 2019.

It costs $1 million a day to operate Philadelphia Airport. 

Airports are set to receive $2 billion from the COVID-19 stimulus bill adopted in December.

 Philadelphia Airport should get about $20 million, less than a month’s worth of expenses, Cameron said.

Read more about the Philadelphia International Airport request for pandemic funds at The Philadelphia Inquirer.