Exactly 85 airports across the country are in line to receive nearly $1 billion in grant funding for a wide array of terminal improvement projects.
The funding is coming from the US Transportation Department and the Federal Aviation Administration, and is part of a larger plan to spend upwards of $5 billion on such facilities through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The grants will specifically fund a series of airport sustainability projects, Americans with Disabilities Act improvements, and access upgrades for airports in rural and disadvantaged communities.
Two grants will fund the construction of new air traffic control towers.
Specific projects will see the building of more gate capacity, new baggage claim areas and bathrooms, as well as the reconfiguring of security checkpoints.
In announcing the grants, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg remarked, “Americans deserve modern airports that meet the needs of their families and growing passenger demands.”
He added that the funding will help “improve airport terminals while also creating good jobs in communities across the country.”
Mitch Landrieu, White House infrastructure coordinator, remarked that airport terminals are “not something the federal government has historically invested in.”
Such investments have typically been made by local airport owners and airlines, continued Landrieu, adding that the “need is evident.”
Just over $14.4 million will go for the long-planned expansion and updating of terminal space at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
The largest projects to receive funding include the building of four new gates at the Orlando International Airport, which is receiving $50 million; and construction of a zero-carbon central electrical utility facility at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, securing $35 million.
Funding for such projects is more specifically coming through the Airport Terminal Program, which is structured to provide $1 billion in funding for airport improvement projects annually for the next 5 years.
More than 530 airports submitted applications for grants from this round of funding.
By Garry Boulard
