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Dive brief:
- The Federal Aviation Administration will distribute $1.1 billion through 280 grants at airports in 46 states and three territories, according to a Sept. 14 release from the Department of Transportation.
- According to the release, the awards, funded through the Airport Improvement Program, aim to upgrade the airport’s critical infrastructure, including the addition of familiar features and vehicle movement area transmitters.
- The latest announcement follows a recent investment of $481 million earlier this month through the separate airport infrastructure grant program.
Diving knowledge:
The investment targets airport upgrades such as runway reconstruction and terminal projects, as well as investments in security tools, according to the statement.
For example, DOT will provide $10.9 million to equip 3,000 airport vehicles with tracking devices at 61 airports. These improvements will allow air traffic controllers to track vehicles on runways and taxiways, according to the release.
“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,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. “It’s about giving our controllers the tools and technologies they need to safely manage an increasingly complex National Airspace System.”
In March, a Canada Air Express the plane collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing two pilots, according to NBC News.
Other grants in the investment package include $30.7 million to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for runway work and $18.9 million to Shreveport Regional Airport in Louisiana for terminal expansion, the statement said.
The AIP and AIG programs are two separate funding streams used for the planning and development of public use airports.
The AIP, funded by the FAA Airport and Airway Trust Fundit focuses on projects such as runways, taxiways, airport signage, airport lighting and airport manufacturing, according to DOT. Airports are entitled to a certain amount of AIP funding each yeardepending on the volume of passengers.
The AIG program, on the other hand, is part of the $1.2 trillion Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act.
