FAA Awards $289M for Runways, Other Airport Infrastructure

Grants are part of IIJA's $25 billion for aviation over five years.

Illustration by Scott Hilling/ENR. original elements by Getty Images

As airlines, travelers and airport officials gear up for another busy July 4 holiday, the Federal Aviation Administration also has an eye on future capacity needs, awarding $289 million for new and upgraded runways, taxiways and other infrastructure projects around the country.

The new round of awards, which the FAA announced on July 1, includes grants for projects at 129 airports in 40 states. Most of the grants are for infrastructure; some will go for planning, equipment and other improvements. View a full list of the projects here.

The funds come from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIG) program. The largest individual grant in the round is $66.7 million to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, for demolition and site preparation for a new 2,100-ft taxiway.

Other big grants include $30.1 million, to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to rebuild a runway; and $26.6 million to Indianapolis International Airport, also for a runway reconstruction.

Philadelphia International Airport is receiving three grants, totaling $22.2 million, to rebuild an apron, rehabilitate a taxiway and make engineered safety improvements to a runway. Also on the list of grantees is Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, which will get $17.2 million to reconstruct a taxiway and rehabilitate a runway.

Terminal Grant Round Launched

Along with the infrastructure grants, FAA also announced that it is launching the IIJA's fiscal year 2025 round of grants to help finance improvements to airport terminals. The FAA says the terminal grants are expected to total $1 billion. View the funding opportunity notice here.

The deadline for applications is July 31.

The agency also said that so far 190 terminal projects funded in earlier rounds are under construction and six are complete.

In all, the IIJA provides $25 billion in airport and aviation funding over five years. That includes $14.5 billion for the AIG program and $5 billion for the terminal program.

Tom Ichniowski has been writing about the federal government as ENR’s Washington Bureau Chief since the George H.W. Bush administration, and he has covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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