On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it had awarded more than $2 billion in grants for airports across the country to help with infrastructure improvements.
The FAA announced some 519 grants, part of the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), in 48 states, Guam, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands totaling up to $1.9 billion for airport improvements. Additionally, the agency announced another $269 million would be provided under the Supplemental Discretionary Grant program for 62 projects at 56 airports.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is funding projects across the country that are making airports safer and more efficient for the passengers who travel through them and for the airport and airline employees who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make these complex systems run as smoothly as possible,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “The grants we’re announcing today will improve airfield operations for dozens of airports and help ensure the U.S. retains its global leadership in aviation.”
The grants included $55 million to Tucson International Airport in Arizona to shift Runway 11/29 to conform with FAA standards; $1.2 million for Nantucket Memorial Airport in Massachusetts for PFA remediation; $15.8 million for Los Angeles International Airport in California to purchase and install of sound insulation treatments for 400 nearby homes; and $29.1 million for St. Louis/Lambert International Airport in Missouri to reconstruct the existing taxiways, and to purchase and install zero-emission equipment.
“Today, we invest in our future – enhancing safety, improving sustainability and ensuring our infrastructure meets the needs of the traveling public,” FAA Associate Administrator for Airports Shannetta R. Griffin, P.E., said. “This funding helps ensure traveler safety, reduces the environmental impacts on communities, and builds more resilient airports nationally.”