>"On the one hand, airports need to make money ..."

Commercial airports in the US are owned by a local, state or regional public entity.[1] They need to be self-sustaining and break even but they don't need to be profitable in the same sense as a private business.

Further, passengers at these airports pay a significant amount of "taxes and fees" on their fares that go to support operations at these airports [2]. These include a passenger facility fee, a segment tax(one per takeoff/landing), a Sept 11th Fee for security and Federal ticket tax(pays the FAA.)

[1] https://yourmileagemayvary.net/2022/08/14/who-owns-airports/

[2] https://www.farecompare.com/news/airline-ticket-taxes-and-fe...