The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced the award of $986 million in airport infrastructure grants to 354 airports in 44 states, Puerto Rico and Micronesia. The awards will be used for runway reconstruction and rehabilitation, construction of firefighting facilities, noise mitigation, emissions reduction, and the maintenance of taxiways, aprons, and terminals.
With 3,332 airports and 5,000 paved runways making up the airport infrastructure in the United States according to the DOT, these Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants support the country’s economic competitiveness for communities with both large and small airports. U.S. civil aviation accounts for $1.6 trillion in total economic activity and supports nearly 11 million jobs, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) most recent economic analysis.
“Infrastructure projects funded by these grants will advance safety, improve travel, generate jobs and provide other economic benefits for local communities,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “The construction and equipment supported by this funding increase the airports’ safety, emergency response capabilities, and capacity, and will further economic growth and development.” The $986 million in airport infrastructure grants is the fifth allotment of the total $3.18 billion in approved FAA AIP funding for airports across the United States.
While many of the grants were awarded to individual airports for local projects such as the $28,795,710 awarded to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for reconstruction and widening of runway 13L/31R at John F. Kennedy International Airport, much of the funds were distributed in the form of “non primary development projects” to state aviation block grant improvement programs. The Texas State Block Grant Program received six awards totaling $51,135,739, while Georgia received $18,960,909, Michigan received $17,506,791 and Illinois received $15,788,753. San Francisco International Airport also received $6.4 million to mitigate noise around the airport for residences affected by airport noise.
