At the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, passengers are so scarce that a long-term parking lot will soon be turned into temporary housing for 900 horses attending equestrian games in the nearby bluegrass countryside.

It is an apt image  going from air power to horse power  for the troubles that airports are face these days: too few passengers, too few flights, too little revenue. And to deal with these setbacks they have come up with a solution: cut every capital project they can.

Terminals that were on the drawing boards are now off. Ditto for new gates, taxiways, roads and lights, as airport executives put a stop to billions of dollars in modernization projects that are now seen as unneeded and unaffordable.

“It’s a matter of waiting until passenger levels kick up again,” said Sean Broderick, a spokesman for the American Association of Airport Executives. “Airports are really stuck. They are cutting back like any other business. They are in survival mode while still trying to keep an eye on the future.”