Why has this marked trend emerged and why did the city of Austin choose to act in this capacity? Governments in many cases do not have the financial capacity to invest in airport expansion as well as meet other needs of their citizens. They are recognizing that on one hand there are limits to their own knowledge of, and expertise, in managing airports; and, on the other, that such expertise can be provided by others with the effect of reducing costs, increasing revenues and improving services. An important objective in many instances is to increase competitiveness and enhance ability to attract economic development by improving airport facilities and obtaining additional air service. The private sector increasingly has come to view airports as an attractive investment; airports serve a dynamic growth industry--commercial aviation--and represent essential infrastructure with a near monopoly. Qualified private airport operating companies have materialized and others will evolve, while successful public airport operators are seeking to expand to provide airport management services--generally as part of broader investor groups. As a result, substantial numbers of airports will come to be operated by a worldwide network of airport operators. These worldwide operators will engage in healthy competition with each other to be efficient and offer superior services, and thus support the objectives of the investor groups in which they participate. The city of Austin expectations by privatizing were: Accountability. Private contractors are paid for results. This gives them an unwavering focus on performance that can rarely be sustained in a public agency. Moreover, private contractors operate under the very real possibility that if their performance is found lacking, the contract may end. This accountability is transferred directly to employees who must deliver top-notch performance to preserve their position in a private organization.