Page 6 - Q3 2022

INDUSTRY NEWS
FAA AWARDS $1.5 BILLION TO AIRPORTS IN THREE GRANT PACKAGES
The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded about $1.5 million to airports across the country since May as part of the 2022 Airport Improvement Program.
The department award the first $608 million to 441 air- ports in 46 states, American Samoa, and the Northern Mari- ana Islands on May 12. Intended to build safer, more acces- sible airports, the grants were awarded in addition to $20 billion that went to U.S. airports as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“In communities of all sizes, airports are vital to regional economies, sustaining jobs and getting people and goods where they need to go,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “These Airport Improvement Program grants will help make airports better, safer, and more acces- sible, so they can better serve people in every community for decades to come.”
In its second round of grants, FAA awarded $518 mil- lion to 416 airports to fund projects like construction of new and improved airport facilities, repairs to runways and taxiways, maintenance of airfield elements like lighting and signage, and purchasing equipment needed to operate and maintain the facilities. Finally, FAA granted $371 million to 169 more airports on July 1.
“We’re investing...in airports across America so commu- nities big and small can continue to safely and efficiently connect with the rest of the world,” FAA Associate Adminis- trator of Airports Shannetta Griffin said.
Examples of grants that will go to enhance safety at air- ports across the U.S. include:
• $3.5 million for Naples Municipal Airport to improve 684,400 square feet of the facility’s existing drainage system to eliminate ponding on airfield surfaces and meet FAA design standards; as recommended by the Wildlife Hazard Management Plan, the project re- grades the infield area between Runway 5/23 and a taxiway and installs culverts for drainage.
• $13.46 million for Minneapolis-St. Paul Internation- al/Wold-Chamberlain to extend and improve the safe- ty area, add taxiway lighting, reconstruct the taxiway and apron, and replace the airport lighting vault.
• $8.57 million for Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey to improve the Runway 5/23 safety area and install major drainage structures crossing the runway and a taxiway.
• $7.54 million for Buffalo-Niagara International Air- port to rehabilitate 8,829 feet of the existing Runway
Naples Municipal Airport has received an FAA grant worth $3.5 million.
5/23 pavement and lighting system and reconstruct
63 airfield guidance signs.
• $18.8 million to Pago Pago International Airport in
American Samoa to rehabilitate a runway.
• $3 million for Northwest Alabama Regional Airport to replace the facility’s runway lighting and improve
the safety area of Runway 12/30.
• $2.5 million for Greensburg Municipal Airport in
Indiana to build a new 5,405-foot Runway 1/19, an orientation and length that will allow the airport to accommodate more aircraft.
• $13.4 million for James M. Cox Dayton International Airport in Ohio to rehabilitate 54,000 square yards, equivalent to more than eight football fields, of the existing terminal apron pavement to maintain its structural integrity.
• $12.2 million for Cyril E. King Airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands to rehabilitate 7,000 feet of a taxiway.
FAA reports that general aviation airports have received about half of the grants associated with the Airport Improve- ment Program. “Airports play a tremendous role in local economies across the country, large and small, and as we emerge from the pandemic, there is enormous demand for air travel,” Buttigieg said. “These grants will help modernize our airports to help get people where they need to go and support the economic life of our nation.”
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