Chicago O’Hare will get $40 million to widen a terminal's central corridor, reconfigure a TSA checkpoint, add a new restroom, more. (Photo by Jim Vondruska)
Getty ImagesThe White House announced Thursday it was allocating nearly $1 billion in federal funding for infrastructure projects to modernize 114 U.S. airports across 44 states and three territories.
The $970 million in funding will be used to create wider concourses, larger security checkpoints, more efficient baggage systems, additional gate capacity and more modern air traffic control towers. This new round of grants comes on top of the nearly $2 billion for airport terminals announced over the past two years.
“We’re living through an unprecedented round of investment and improvements in all forms of our country’s infrastructure,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “These investments we’re announcing today, made possible by President Biden’s historic infrastructure package, will make it easier for passengers to get to and through airports, create jobs, and increase safety for all.”
The funding for the projects comes from the Airport Terminal Program, one of three aviation programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which comes on the heels of more than $240 million in funding for Airport Infrastructure Grants. The law provides $1 billion annually for five years for Airport Terminal Program grants. In total, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will provide $25 billion to modernize the United States’ airport infrastructure.
Among the airports receiving the most funding is Chicago O’Hare International Airport, which is allocated $40 million to improve Terminal 3 to widen the central passenger corridor, reconfigure a TSA checkpoint, add a new holdroom and restroom, and update the baggage system.
Washington Dulles International Airport will receive $35 million to build a 400,000-square-foot, 14-gate terminal including connections to the Aerotrain and Metrorail.
Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California has been awarded $31 million to improve surrounding roadways, including underground storm water containment systems.
Denver International Airport, which just opened a new $51-million taxiway last fall, is getting another $26.6 million in federal funds to help replace the current baggage handling system with one that is more energy efficient and has greater capacity.
Salt Lake City International Airport, which is nearing the end of a 12-year, $5-billion overhaul, was recently named the “Utahn of the Year” by The Salt Lake Tribune for injecting $11 billion annually into the economy. It will receive $20 million in federal funding to expand the Concourse B terminal, including 16 gates.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who voted for the Infrastructure Bill in 2021, issued a press release taking credit for the $13 million secured for Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. That sum includes $7.5 million to partially fund four additional screening lanes to the security checkpoint in Terminal A.
North Dakota Senator John Hoeven, who also voted for the Infrastructure Bill, penned a press release touting that Hector International Airport in Fargo is granted $10 million to rehabilitate the terminal and add four new gates, increase holdroom space, expand ticketing and baggage handling, add restrooms and post-security concessions and improve accessibility for people with disabilities.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who also voted for the Infrastructure Bill in 2021, announced in a press release that $18 million in federal funding has been allocated for airport improvements across her state. About a third of that sum, $6.5 million, will go to Presque Isle International Airport to partially fund construction a new terminal.
Congressman Mike Turner, who represents Ohio’s 10th District, touted the $2.9 million in funding for Dayton International Airport in a press release, noting that he had written to Polly Trottenberg, then-acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in November in support of Dayton International Airport’s grant application for the Airport Terminals Program. “The funds will go towards improving structural safety, energy efficiency and lighting inside of certain passenger boarding bridges in Concourse B,” Congressman Turner wrote. Notably, Turner voted against the Infrastructure Bill three years ago.
