Regulatory Alert: FAA Announces Over $2.2 Billion in FY24 AIP and FY23 Supplemental Discretionary Grants

FAA Announces Over $2.2 Billion in FY24 AIP and FY23 Supplemental Discretionary Grants
September 6, 2024

Today, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced nearly $2.0 billion in grant awards as part of the fiscal year 2024 (FY24) Airport Improvement Program (AIP), including $743 million in entitlement grants and $1.2 billion in discretionary grants. The 519 grants awarded today will fund a variety of projects in 48 states, including rehabilitating and reconstructing taxiways and runways, VALE and ZEV projects, acquiring snow removal and other equipment, and installing and reconstructing lighting systems, among many others.

FAA also announced today about $269 million in fiscal year 2023 (FY23) supplemental discretionary grants, which will be awarded to 56 airports for 62 different projects. The grants will fund a diverse set of projects intended to improve resiliency of airfield infrastructure, develop infrastructure needed to support sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), improve air quality at airports, and advance energy and emissions sustainability goals.

You can review the full list of FY24 AIP grants here, the full list of FY23 supplemental discretionary grants here, and FAA’s press release here.

FY24 AIP Grants. The FY24 AIP grants announced by FAA were made available by the $3.35 billion in “regular” AIP funding that Congress provided in March 2024 as part of the FY24 DOT/FAA spending bill. Today’s announcement, which will be the last for this fiscal year, brings the total amount of FY24 AIP grants awarded to approximately $3.17 billion after FAA awarded about $1.19 billion in AIP grants between June and August.

FY23 Supplemental Discretionary Grants. The supplemental discretionary grants released today were made available by Congress in December 2022 through the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill. In the spending bill, Congress provided about $558.5 million in supplemental discretionary funding for airport development projects in addition to normal AIP funding. This included about $268.7 million for FAA to distribute at its discretion. Today’s selections were based on over 350 applications that were submitted by airports in the spring for about $1.3 billion in funding.

What’s Next? Airports should be aware of several other notable updates and developments expected in the months ahead as it relates to other infrastructure funding programs:

FY25 AIP Grants: The House Appropriations Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee have both approved bills that would appropriate $4 billion for AIP as part of the FY25 DOT/FAA spending bill. However, Congress is not expected to finalize the appropriations bill until sometime after the November elections.
FY25 FAA Contract Tower (FCT) Competitive Grant Program: In August, FAA released a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) outlining how airports can apply for a discretionary grant from the $20 million that will be made available in FY25 for airports with sponsor-owned ATC facilities in the FAA Contract Tower Program. FAA set Wednesday, September 18, as the deadline to apply.
FY25 Airport Terminal Program (ATP) Grants: The period for airports to apply for a share of $1 billion in FY25 ATP funding for terminal development projects closed at the end of July. FAA received 577 total applications for approximately $8.1 billion. FAA has indicated that the agency expects to announce projects selected for FY25 ATP grants sometime in October or November of this year.
FY25 Airport Improvement Grants (AIG): FAA is expected to continue announcing AIG grant awards monthly throughout 2024, with allocations for airports for FY25 anticipated to be released in October or November of this year.

Reminder: AAAE has developed a one-page overview of the various grant programs and funds being administered by FAA, including relevant timelines, to help airports navigate the opportunities available for infrastructure funding.