INVESTING IN AMERICA: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $20 Million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding to Modernize Airport Owned Air Traffic Control Towers

WASHINGTON – For a fourth year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced $20 million being awarded to 20 airport-owned airport traffic control towers across the country, spanning 15 states. This funding will be used to upgrade existing or build new control towers across the country, delivering on President Biden’s vision to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure through his Investing in America agenda. 

The funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will go to smaller and regional airports to improve safety and support critical aviation operations such as commercial passenger flights, cargo flights, emergency services, agricultural aviation, and flight training.

“Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden-Harris Administration is supporting every part of our aviation system—including airports in small communities that drive local economies and help people get where they need to go,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “With today’s announcement, 20 more airports will have the resources they need to upgrade operations and make travel safer and more efficient.”

View a data visualization of the airports receiving funding.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates the FAA’s ongoing commitment to airports of all sizes. These upgrades will help ensure traveler safety for decades by providing our controllers better work environments that are also more accessible, secure, and sustainable,” said FAA Associate Administrator for Airports, Shannetta R. Griffin, P.E. 

The 20 airports receiving funding include:

• $200,000 to Castle Airport in California to replace outdated air traffic control equipment. 
• $1.3 million to Grand Junction Regional Airport in Colorado to replace aging infrastructure under the airport’s Tower Modernization Program.
• $950,000 to Waterbury-Oxford Airport in Connecticut to replace the tower’s roof, HVAC system, windows, and shades, and to upgrade the radio communication system.
• $1.7 million to Gary/Chicago International Airport in Indiana to replace the existing tower. This grant funds the design and engineering costs associated with the new tower and will incorporate Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and energy efficiency updates.
• $185,000 to Chennault International Airport in Louisiana to install new drainage systems, concrete, and joint seals at the tower’s base, which will eliminate erosion and reinforce the structure to extend its useful life, as well as replace flooring damaged by persistent interior saturation.     
• $500,000 to Acadiana Regional Airport in Louisiana to replace tower communications equipment and modernizing the HVAC system to optimize energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and improve interior air quality.
• $1.5 million to Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport in Michigan to upgrade multiple tower systems that are nearing the end of life and need replacement, such as required upgrades to communication, weather, HVAC, generator, elevator, and/or cab improvements.
• $900,000 to Missoula County Airport in Montana to fund a portion of the air traffic control tower upgrades including the elevator replacement and associated infrastructure. 
• $800,000 to Hickory Regional Airport in North Carolina to replace security and communication systems, windows, and shades, and upgrades to the restrooms.
• $1 million to Coastal Carolina Regional Airport in North Carolina to fund the design of a new federal contract tower.
• $2 million to Smith Reynolds Airport in North Carolina to fund the rehabilitation of the contract tower that was originally constructed in 1941.
• $1.5 million to Boulder City Municipal Airport in Nevada to fund the design for a new tower which will include structural, building mechanical, electrical, plumbing, parking, access, fencing and utility improvements.
• $800,000 to Henderson Executive Airport in Nevada to fund a portion of the rehabilitation and repair the existing tower including the HVAC and elevators.
• $750,000 to Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma to fund the design for reconstructing the existing tower. The reconstruction includes the installation of pre-existing equipment, to correct line of sight issues, improve operational and energy efficiencies, and meet ADA standards. 
• $300,000 to Hilton Head Island Airport in South Carolina to rehabilitate and replace many building components to include the roof, carpet, HVAC, bathrooms, security system, exterior doors, lightning protection and tower antennas.
• $600,000 to Smyrna Airport in Tennessee to fund the design of a new federal contract tower.
• $1.1 million to Valley International Airport in Texas to fund a portion of the interior construction including build outs for ADA accessible facilities, conveyances, and workspaces as well as the acquisition and installation of new tower cab windows.
• $1.7 million to Victoria Regional Airport in Texas to rehabilitate the tower with new energy efficient systems including a new roof, HVAC, windows, and shades as well as updated antenna cabling protection from climatic events and modernization of interior workspace and facilities for accessibility.
• $540,000 to Renton Municipal Airport in Washington to fund the completion of an air traffic control tower siting study with 30% design to replace the existing tower that has exceeded its useful life.     
• $1.6 million to Wheeling-Ohio County Airport in West Virginia to rehabilitate the tower, including replacement of cab windows, repairs to the pre-engineered metal building, and addressing water damage resulting in compliance with building codes, fire codes, and FAA requirements.

Several projects from earlier FAA Contract Tower Program grant awards have been completed or are nearing completion. Examples of completed projects include:

• $225,000 to Northeast Florida Regional Airport in Florida in 2023 to upgrade and replace communication equipment and minor facility upgrades. 
• $700,000 to Chennault International Airport in Louisiana in 2023 to upgrade and replace communication equipment. 
• $274,000 to Stennis International in Mississippi in 2023 to replace obsolete equipment in the tower.

Today’s funding is from the FAA’s Airport Infrastructure Grants FAA Contract Tower Competitive Grant program, and comes after October’s announcement of another nearly $1 billion in funding for 125 airports across the country through the Airport Terminals Program. These grants continue efforts to improve safety by upgrading and building control towers in small towns and at regional airports to sustain, construct, repair, improve, modernize, replace or relocate airport-owned towers and install communications equipment. Learn more at faa.gov/bil. 

Next year, additional funding up to $100 million may be available for eligible airports due to expiring AIG FY 2022 funds. More information will be available online. 

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes a historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness by rebuilding America’s roads and bridges, upgrading and expanding public transit and rail, and modernizing the nation’s ports and airports. To date, the Administration has announced over $568 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for over 66,000 infrastructure projects across the nation and has mobilized nearly $1 trillion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States.