WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award $7.7 million in airport safety and infrastructure grants to twelve airports in Mississippi. This investment in Mississippi’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 Mississippi include:

• Panola County - $316,755 reconstruct the airport beacon, and replace airport lighting vault
• Aberdeen–$629,452 construct and expand aircraft parking apron and rehabilitate a taxiway
• Stennis International - $256,050 to updated airport master plan
• Brookhaven-Lincoln County - $118,188 rehabilitate runway and lighting
• Columbus-Lowndes County - $347,405 rehabilitate aircraft parking apron
• Golden Triangle Regional - $1 million rehabilitate aircraft apron and install edge and flood lights, reconstruct runway lighting 
• Gulfport-Biloxi International - $2,453,000 to fund airport drainage improvements, taxiway rehabilitation, purchase equipment acquisition, and rehabilitate the terminal building 
• Holly Springs-Marshall County–$384,128 to improve drainage and erosion control
• Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional - $660,029 to improve the terminal and install a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI)
• New Albany-Union County–$213,543 to fund access road improvements
• University-Oxford— $238,500 to fund runway rehabilitation
• Tupelo Regional — $1,069,700 to update the airport master plan, seal taxiway pavement, rehabilitate a taxiway and reconstruct airfield guidance signs 

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.”