Even with a vaccine for coronavirus still pending, U.S. airports are getting a shot in the arm – thanks to four major recent funding programs from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Even with a vaccine for coronavirus still pending, U.S. airports are getting a shot in the arm – thanks to four major recent funding programs from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
All funding, issued as airport safety and infrastructure grants, total approximately $3.46 billion and will come from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP): $1.187 billion announced in April; another $800 million announced in June; $273 million announced in late July; and $1.2 billion announced on Sept. 1.
Monies from the three funds will be distributed differently, but portions will go to airports in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, plus the U.S.-related territories of Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands and the Marshall Islands.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao said the investments represent a “continued commitment to the safety and efficiency of our nation’s airports for the traveling public.”
The grant money will be used in numerous ways, such as to rehabilitate taxiways, install airfield beacons and guidance signs, construct new terminal buildings, reconstruct runway lighting and build new engineered material arresting systems to safely stop airplanes that overshoot runways.
