AASHTO Journal - FAA Issues $148M in Airport Infrastructure Grants

The Federal Aviation Administration recently awarded $148.3 million to 73 airport-related infrastructure projects in 28 states and Guam via its Airport Infrastructure Grant or AIG program; funds aimed at modernizing airport terminals, increasing airfield safety, expanding capacity, replacing equipment, and more.

[Above photo by the FAA]

“These grants help airports across the nation sustain and improve critical infrastructure to advance the safest, most efficient airport system in the world,” said Shannetta Griffin, FAA’s associate administrator for airports, in a statement.

The AIG program – one of three aviation-focused funding initiatives created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA – provides about $15 billion in total funding over five years with $3 billion available annually. To date, nearly $9 billion in AIG funding has been made available to airports across the country, FAA said.

[Editor’s note: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials published a report in April 2023 analyzing the impact of general aviation on state and local economies across the country. That report, officially entitled “The Impact of General Aviation on State and Local Economies—State Reports 2022,” is a joint effort between AASHTO, the Alliance for Aviation Across America, and the National Association of State Aviation Officials.]

In late 2023, the FAA issued $66.2 million in AIG program funding to 66 airport projects in 23 states and Puerto Rico, followed by $110 million in AIG funding to 70 airports in 32 states in March.

The other two airport-focused funding efforts overseen by the FAA include the Airport Terminal Program or ATP and the Airport Improvement Program or AIP.

In February, the FAA issued $970 million in ATP grants to 114 airports across the country – spanning 44 states and three U.S. territories – to help install new baggage systems, larger security checkpoints, increase gate capacity, and modernize aging terminal and ground transportation infrastructure. The agency added that nine of those grants would address the needs of aging air traffic control towers.

In May 2023, the FAA issued roughly $100 million in AIP funds to 12 airports across the country to fund projects that reduce runway incursions; projects focused on reconfiguring taxiways, installing airfield lighting, and constructing new taxiways to provide more flexibility on the airfield, the agency said.