If not for covid the shot term garage would already be a giant hole in the ground as the airport built a new processing building connected to BJ with new, longer and more efficient ramps. Covid came and fucked up the financing of that due to its disruption of the aviation industry. The new infrastructure bill opens up more funding avenues but there are still practical limitations on the bonds the airport can put out. I think we all agree that none of us want to pay more in property taxes to finance an expansion, right? So when you are left with traditional aviation bonds and federal grants the options become a bit more limited.
The last Airport head was solid. Jury is still out on the new one but this is a part of the city government that traditionally functions well. Yes, it seems like they aren't super aggressive with expansions however federal grant requirements cap what your projected growth is in order to discourage over-aggressive expansion. So like a lot of things in government, there are legitimate reasons for them being how they are.