The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced the provision of a grant of $8bn to help US airports across the country retain workers and support the ongoing construction projects.
FAA will offer the grant from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which US President Biden signed into law on 11 March 2021.
The funding will help US airports recover from the impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the Airport Rescue Grants programme, about $6.5bn funding will be allocated to the major airports that provide commercial service airports.
Based on the number of annual boardings, the funding supplied by the FAA will be distributed among these major airports.
An additional $800m will be offered to primary commercial service airports to provide rent relief to companies that operate concessions.
A grant of $100m will be shared by the non-primary commercial service and general aviation airports.
US Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said: “The Airport Rescue Grants keep workers employed and help the aviation sector recover as more Americans get vaccinated and begin travelling again.
“These grants are part of the Administration’s commitment to building back a better and safer transportation system throughout our country.”
To receive one of the grants, airports are required to maintain 90% of the workers they had before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The funding for these is expected to provide economic relief to the eligible commercial service, reliever and general aviation airports.
FAA administrator Steve Dickson said: “The FAA is committed to working with the aviation industry as it recovers from the impacts of the pandemic.
“These airport rescue grants provide needed support to our nation’s airports as we recover from the pandemic’s impacts.”
