The Federal Aviation Administration recently awarded more than $766 million in grants to help fund projects at 279 airports in 44 states plus Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
[Above photo by the FAA]
That funding is part the fifth round of fiscal year 2021 Airport Improvement Program and the agency said, due in part to $100 million in additional funding included the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed on March 11, no local match is required for those projects.
The FAA noted in a statement that its Airport Improvement Program receives approximately $3.2 billion in funding each year and it plans to award more than 1,800 grants via that program in 2021.
Several state department of transportation studies – including ones from Georgia, Wyoming, and Alaska – show that airports function as significant “economic engines” as well as key mobility hubs.
Yet airports are also suffering long-term fiscal losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent report by the Airports Council International–North America trade association indicates U.S. airports will lose at least $17 billion between April 2021 and March 2022 due of the prolonged decline in commercial aviation traffic resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those losses are in addition to the $23 billion U.S. airports are reportedly lost between March 2020 and March 2021, the group added.
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