FAA invests $479.1M in safety, sustainable infrastructure at Airports

Grants awarded to 123 airports across every state.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded more than $479 million in airport infrastructure grants to 123 projects at airports across all 50 states, American Samoa and Puerto Rico. View an interactive map with all the awards.  

“These grants will help strengthen our country’s airports and the communities they serve by making investments that create jobs and increase safety, sustainability and accessibility.” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. 

Today’s grants include: 

Increasing accessibility

Watertown International Airport, Watertown, N.Y.: $2.2 million to install an upgraded Approach Lighting System. Watertown International Airport recently completed a runway extension. This new Approach Lighting System will improve safety and enhance access to the Watertown area, especially in winter and for air carriers operating at this Essential Air Service airport. 

Harlem Airport, Harlem, Mont.: $2.1 million to rehabilitate its runway, taxiway, and apron pavement surfaces, and to rehabilitate its runway edge lighting system. The primary use of the Harlem Airport is to provide air ambulance service and to transport medical personnel for the Fort Belknap Hospital, which serves the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. 

Increasing sustainability and resilience

General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport, Boston, Mass.: $4 million to acquire electric charging stations for ground-servicing equipment. Boston Logan International Airport is located in an Environmental Protection Agency-designated nonattainment and maintenance area. This Voluntary Airport Low-Emission project will reduce sources of airport ground emissions, improve airport air quality, and reduce the use of conventional fuels. 

Warren “Bud” Woods Palmer Municipal Airport, Palmer, Alaska: $520,833 to improve airfield drainage and erosion control systems.

New Orleans Lakefront Airport, New Orleans, La.: $543,056 to protect the airfield from floods due to high water level events of Lake Pontchartrain.

Fairfield County Airport, Winnsboro, S.C.: $2.7 to use water infiltration to reduce airport runoff and help avoid shutting down runways during heavy rains.

Denver International Airport, Denver, Colo.: $16.4 million towards the construction of a new 5,000 foot taxiway. Once open, this taxiway will reduce aircraft taxiing times from Runway 17L/35R to the terminal area, thereby decreasing aircraft emissions and improving airport air quality. 

Create Jobs

Stennis International Airport, Bay St. Louis, Miss.: Approximately $3.1 million to expand an apron to meet growing demand for aircraft parking and to support third party investment in hangar development. These new facilities will accommodate aircraft maintenance activity. These new facilities will support critical jobs on both the airfield and at the Stennis Space Center.

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, Sarasota, Fla.: Approximately $3.7 million to add five new gates and apron loading areas to the existing terminal. This expansion will accommodate existing demand, which was driven by four new airlines and 42 new routes. Accommodating the growing air traffic to the Sarasota/Bradenton area helps sustain job growth from new air service at the airport, as well as jobs in the community. 

Ontario International Airport, Ontario, Calif.: $15.2 million to reconstruct 832,000 square feet of taxiways and their connectors. The project will allow for a safer and more efficient flow of aircraft traffic on the airfield. This large project will result in jobs during construction and accommodate permanent job growth at this growing airport that is experiencing increased demand for passenger and cargo service.

Chicago Rockford International Airport, Rockford, Ill.: Approximately $3 million to construct a taxiway. This airport has become the 19th busiest cargo destination in the United States, and this project continues the economic growth in the area by supporting increased cargo processing capacity. This project supports hundreds of new permanent jobs at the cargo companies operating on the airport. 

Infrastructure Investment

Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Buffalo, N.Y.: $13.3 million for a runway reconstruction project. This grant is one phase of a project that includes reconstruction of the full runway length, runway intersection, blast pads, and taxiways, all of which have been rapidly deteriorating. Reconstruction projects typically add up to 20 years of useful life to pavement.

Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii: $2.2 million to remove and replace 15,000 feet of airfield perimeter fence. Because of the airport’s close proximity to the ocean, the existing metal fence is corroded and poses a security vulnerability to the airfield. 

Today’s funding is in addition to the more than $3.1 billion in Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants awarded during fiscal year 2021 and includes American Rescue Plan Act funding to cover the usual local-match requirement.