Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced massive grants for both local airports MIA AND FLL. NBC6’s Cherney Amhara reports.
Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will be receiving major upgrades thanks to a federal program that will grant millions of dollars to both airports.
The Biden administration said Thursday it is providing $970 million for improvements at 114 airports around the country, with work ranging from wider concourses and new baggage-handling systems to new terminals at some small airfields.
Administration officials said the money comes from a $5 billion grant program to modernize airport terminals.
The largest sum, $50 million, will go to FLL for a project to connect terminals behind the security checkpoints and provide new retail space and other amenities.
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A whopping $27 million will be designated for MIA which will provide support for the MIA Mover which is in need of restoration and work on the concourse in the terminal itself.
In an exclusive interview with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, he gave NBC6 insight into how competitive the grant program truly is.
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"This goes to specific pieces of larger plans that are underway at the airports," Buttigieg told NBC6 Anchor Jackie Nespral. "That's how the application process works. And it's a very competitive application process. We had many more funds requested than we were able to say yes to. So these are really the projects that are the most deserving."
Buttigieg went on to say many airports that were designed before September 11, 2001 have found that they need to be designed with new security measures in mind that weren't considered when the airports were originally built.
O'Hare International Airport in Chicago will get $40 million to widen a concourse, reconfigure a security checkpoint and other changes. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia, San Francisco International and Los Angeles International will receive amounts ranging from $31 million to $36 million.
A Federal Aviation Administration official said there were more than 600 applications and requests totaled $14 billion.
The administration has gone to great lengths to promote new and proposed protections for air travelers — seeing airlines as an easy target of consumer frustration.
President Joe Biden has railed against fees that some airlines charge to let families sit together. The Transportation Department published an online “dashboard” to prod airlines to commit to improving customer service.
Last month, the Transportation Department announced $244 million in grants for improvements to other airport facilities including runways and taxiways.
