In government dollars, $162 million might seem like chump change, especially when it gets split up 72 ways. But for the recipients of the airport grants announced yesterday by the FAA, the money means an opportunity to add or repair much needed airport infrastructure.
Yesterday’s award is part of the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program, grants awarded to airport sponsors to keep help their facilities in top-notch condition in order to fulfill their role in the National Airspace System. The AIP grant program pays for new runways and taxiways, as well as their rehabilitation, airport signage, lighting and markings, all of which help create thousands of jobs.
AIP funding is money returned to system users through their aviation fuel taxes, airline ticket taxes and air freight charges. The individual amounts awarded to each airport are determined by passenger volume at each facility.
A few of the grant recipients in this round of funding include: Miami Executive Airport FL, receiving $3.1M for a new taxiway; Montgomery County Air Park MD, receiving $2.3M to repair a taxiway; and Waukesha WI, receiving $1.8M to expand the airport apron.
To date in 2017, the U.S. Department of Transportation has announced more than 1,351 new grants through the FAA to nearly 1,205 airports for a total of $2.1 billion to fund 564 runway and 475 taxiway projects.
