WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award $26.5 million in airport safety and infrastructure grants to 17 airports in Montana. This investment in Montana’s airports is part of a $520.5 million national investment in America’s airports that was announced today by Secretary Chao.

“This $520.5 million in federal support to airports across the country will help to keep our nation’s airports in good shape and make air travel a better experience for passengers,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

With this announcement, the Trump Administration has invested a historic $11.42 billion in more than two thousand American airports across the United States for safety and infrastructure improvements since January 2017.

The airports receiving Airport Improvement Program grants in Montana include:

• Bowman Field Airport—$180,000 to fund the installation of navigational aids and rebuild an apron
• Big Sandy Airport—$113,400 to fund sealing runway, taxiway and apron pavement surface and joints
• Billings Logan International Airport—two separate grants, one for $200,000 to fund reconfiguring the existing runway and a second grant for $2,500,000 to fund expanding the terminal building
• Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport—$2,736,851 to fund renovating the existing terminal, building an apron, extending the taxiway, building a taxiway and building a service road
• Chester Liberty County Airport—$324,000 to fund sealing the runway, taxiway and apron pavement surface and joints
• Choteau Airport—$199,196 to fund purchasing snow removal equipment      
• Colstrip Airstrip—$207,000 to fund sealing the runway, taxiway and apron pavement surface and joints
• Ennis-Big Sky Airport—$5,578,128 to fund sealing the taxiway and apron pavement surface and joints, installing a runway vertical/visual guidance system, rebuilding an apron, installing taxiway lighting and navigational aids, extending the taxiway and rebuilding a taxiway      
• Tillitt Field—$219,400 to fund sealing the runway, apron and taxiway pavement surface and joints
• Fort Benton Airport—$500,000 to fund sealing the runway, taxiway and apron pavement surface and joints, purchasing snow removal equipment and improving the snow removal equipment building
• Great Falls International Airport—$1,412,122 to fund repairing an access road        
• Havre City-County Airport—$50,000 to fund sealing the runway pavement surface and joints
• Laurel Municipal Airport—$373,000 to fund sealing the runway, taxiway and apron pavement surface and joints
• Lewistown Municipal Airport—$700,000 to fund apron repairs
• Libby Airport—$300,000 to fund snow removal equipment purchase
• Missoula International Airport—two separate grants, one for $1,251,219 to fund building an apron and a second grant for $6,741,709 to fund building a new terminal building     
• Sidney-Richland Regional Airport—$1,216,497 to fund repairs to the taxiway lighting system, taxiway repairs, installing taxiway lighting and taxiway extension
• Turner Airport—$1,749,298 to fund repairs to the apron, runway and taxiway and building a taxiway

The Administration not only supports infrastructure through funding – it is making it possible to deliver these much-needed improvements more quickly. The Department is working hard to streamline the approval process, cut unnecessary red tape and reduce unnecessary, duplicative regulations that do not contribute to safety.  

These investments and reforms are especially timely because the U.S. economy is surging. Employers have added more than 7 million jobs since January 2017. To kick off the new decade, a robust 225,000 American jobs were added in January 2020 and the unemployment rate is still a remarkable 3.6 percent—the lowest in 50 years.

Aviation is an important part of that growth. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. civil aviation supports more than 5% of U.S. gross domestic product; $1.6 trillion in economic activity; and nearly 11 million jobs.

“America’s airports provide a gateway to the world for our citizens while at the same time delivering first impressions of the United States to visitors from abroad,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. “It’s in our national interest to make them the crown jewel in our transportation system. The Airport Improvement Program allows us to do just that.”