AASHTO Journal - FAA Issues $1.1B in Airport Infrastructure Grant Funding

The Federal Aviation Administration recently issued $1.1 billion in grants to 280 airports in 46 states and three territories to help upgrade critical airport infrastructure and install vehicle movement area transmitters or VMATS onto airport vehicles.

[Above photo by FAA]

That funding – via the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program or AIP – specifically supports airport infrastructure projects involving runways, taxiways, signage, lighting, markings and other safety-related. The agency noted that, via the Working Families Tax Cut Act, it received $16.5 million to equip airport vehicles with VMATs.

“As we continue to strengthen the National Airspace System, we are providing funding for airports to quickly put critical safety investments in across the country,” said Bryan Bedford, FAA administrator, in a statement.

“These grants will allow airports to deploy VMATs, which provide our air traffic controllers with greater situational awareness of aircraft and vehicles moving on the airport surface,” he noted. “This is about giving our controllers the tools and technology they need to safely manage an increasingly complex National Airspace System.”

[Editor’s note: The video below explains how the Colorado Department of Transportation is testing the use of goats to provide a more “natural way” to perform airfield maintenance at Centennial Airport.]

This is the latest disbursement of airport-related funding by the FAA.

In early September, the agency issued $481 million via its Airport Infrastructure Grants or AIG program to help improve airport infrastructure in 36 states and two territories.

In late August, the FAA issued $615 million via the AIP to 238 recipients in 42 states and two U.S. territories to support projects that improve runway and taxiway infrastructure, invest in family-friendly features in terminals, and support critical airfield safety upgrades.

In early August, the agency issued $870 million via its AIG program to airports in 44 states and two territories. That money funds 339 grants for projects aimed at improving runway infrastructure, enhancing safety, and adding more family-friendly features at U.S. airports.

In July, the FAA issued a total of $1.776 billion through its AIP and AIG programs to airports in 46 states to help support a variety of projects focused on runway rehabilitations, family-friendly enhancements, and safety upgrades.

And in June, the FAA issued more than $523 million in AIG program funding to airports in 43 states to support runway rehabilitation, taxiway improvements, terminal upgrades, and other airfield investments.