Hobby, IAH land $55M slice of federal funds pie
Work underway at Houston’s major airports will get a lift from nearly $55 million in federal funds authorized in the recently approved infrastructure law.
The Federal Aviation Administration of Thursday announced how it will allocate the first $3 billion in new funds for airports from the infrastructure law, money that could spur upgrades in terminals and on the tarmac to help get passengers to planes more quickly and into the air on time.
It’s the first major new tranche of federal airport funding since the stimulus adopted after the financial crisis more than a decade ago. It also represents a new level of investment by the federal government in terminals — at an average of 40 years old — which could help airports update aging facilities by plugging gaps in existing funding sources.
Bush Intercontinental Airport will receive $40.2 million and Hobby Airport will receive $14.7 million, according to the FAA.
“The bipartisan infrastructure law has given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build safer and more sustainable airports that connect individuals to jobs and communities to the world,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “With this new funding, urban, regional and rural airports across the country now can get to work on projects that have waited for years, modernizing their infrastructure and building a better America.”
Like much of the transportation funding in the $1.2 trillion legislation, the federal government won’t determine how the money is spent, leaving the decisions to individual airports.
The money will start flowing at a time when airports are gradually recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, which nearly brought air travel to a standstill and left them dependent on billions in federal aid. While air trav
el has rebounded, airports expect to miss out on revenue, compared to pre-pandemic levels, for years to come.
Houston Airport Systems has been working since 2014 to redevelop IAH in ways that make it more efficient for passengers, such as renovations at Terminal D, the construction of a brand new pier and new arrivals and departures halls.
Redeveloped portions of the airport will include new features, such as automated systems allowing passengers to check bags without waiting in line at the counter, and streamlined checkpoint access at Terminals D and E, which will have 17 different lanes for passengers to go through.
For Hobby, local politicians have recently signaled support for investing in light rail routes to Houston’s southern airport. Smaller airports in the region are also on the funding list, including Jack Brooks Regional in Beaumont, which will receive $1 million, and Easterwood Field in College Station, which will receive $1.2 million.
The infrastructure money is divided through a formula set out in the law, broadly awarding funds based on an airport’s size.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the nation’s busiest, will receive $92.5 million this year, while hundreds of small airports will each get $110,000. In the Washington region, Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport will each get about $22 million, and BaltimoreWashington International Marshall Airport will get almost $26 million.
In all, the infrastructure legislation allocates $25 billion for aviation projects over five years.
Airports Council InternationalNorth America, which represents authorities that own and operate airports, says facilities are aging and have a significant backlog of projects.
In an infrastructure survey published this year, the organization identified $115 billion in investments that airports say they need in the coming five years — including $40 billion in terminal projects.
“We will see a significant portion of this money go in some way to terminal projects,” said Annie Russo, the council’s senior vice president of government and political affairs. “It will be incredibly helpful in jump-starting projects.”