The Federal Aviation Administration recently issued 33 grants worth a total of $20 million to 29 small towns and at regional airports to upgrade and/or build traffic control towers.

[Above photo by the Colorado DOT]

Those fiscal year 2023 grants – issued via the FAA Contract Tower Competitive Grant program – are funded via the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA, enacted in November 2021.

The FAA noted that those grants should help improve safety, lower costs, plus support local businesses at smaller and regional airports. That grant money should also support important aviation operations such as commercial services, emergency services, agricultural aviation, flight training, and shipping of goods, the agency added.

“[These grants] allow airports to make much needed upgrades to their airport traffic control tower while improving safety, providing good-paying job opportunities and supporting local economies,” said Shannetta Griffin, FAA’s associate administrator for airports, in a statement.

State departments of transportation play a key role in the aviation sectors within their respective regions.

For example, several state DOT studies – including ones from Iowa, Illinois, Georgia, Wyoming, and Alaska – show that airports function as significant “economic engines” as well as key mobility hubs.