Airports throughout the West are receiving dozens of new grants worth hundreds of millions of dollars in just announced funding by the Federal Aviation Administration.
New Mexico is getting a total of just over $4.3 million in funding for three long-planned airport projects, the vast majority of which is seeing $3.6 million heading for the Albuquerque International Sunport to rehabilitate some 10,500 feet of terminal access road.
The second largest grant, at $600,000, is going for the final phase construction of a snow removal equipment building at the Socorro Municipal Airport; while $128,250 is slated for the first phase design work on a project rehabilitating around 6,800 feet of paved runway at the Artesia Municipal Airport.
In announcing the New Mexico funding, Democrat Senator Martin Heinrich remarked, “When we invest in New Mexico’s airports, we invest in the people who rely on these facilities to do business in our state, create jobs, and contribute to our economy.”
Arizona is receiving around $20 million in grants for half a dozen projects, the largest of which is $8.4 million for taxiway work at the Phoenix Deer Valley
Airport. Just under $4 million is going to a runway reconstruction project at the Mesa Gateway Airport; with an additional runway reconstruction project, funded by $2.8 million, set for the Chandler Municipal Airport.
An apron construction project at the Coolidge Municipal Airport has been awarded just over $2.4 million in FAA funding, while the Ryan Field Airport in Tucson is receiving $1.4 million for a runway rehabilitation and reconstruction project.
The smallest Arizona grant, at $856,000, will fund the rehabilitation of runway lighting at the Prescott Regional Airport.
Colorado is receiving grants worth just a little over $2.1 million for three projects, the largest of which is $1.4 million for a runway shift project at the Grand Junction Regional Airport.
Smaller grants are seeing the Wray Municipal Airport in the eastern town of Wray receiving just over $400,000 for a taxiway construction project; and exactly $300,000 going to a resealing and resurfacing project at the Perry Stokes Airport in Trinidad.
The grant announcements come as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in testimony before the House Appropriation Committee, said he wants to see the building of up to half a dozen new air traffic control centers nationally, along with the installation of anti-collision tarmac technology at 200 airports.
July 15, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
