The funds are part of $8 billion in total allocations announced June 22 by the Federal Aviation Administration from the American Rescue Plan Act signed into law in March.
Under the grant allocations, Los Angeles International Airport is set to receive about $304 million, Ontario International Airport $27 million, Hollywood Burbank Airport roughly $23 million and Long Beach Airport $15 million.
“These airport rescue grants provide needed support to our nation’s airports as we recover from the pandemic’s impacts,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in the agency’s announcement.
The money is intended for reimbursing operational expenses, debt service payments and costs related to combating the spread of pathogens at the airport. A portion is also intended for airport concessionaire operators, whose businesses were decimated by the sharp reductions in airport passengers.
Only about $500 million of the $8 billion is designated for airport capital improvement projects, mostly for airport matches to grants from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program.
However, spokespeople for each of the four airports said that by shoring up airport operation funds devastated by pandemic-induced lockdowns, these grants will allow the airports to use other funds for ongoing capital projects.
Heath Montgomery, a spokesman for Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that runs LAX, Long Beach Airport spokeswoman Kate Kuykendall and Hollywood Burbank Airport spokeswoman Nerissa Sugars said their airports plan to allocate a portion of the funds to provide rent relef to concessionaires.
Ontario International Airport spokesman Steve Lambert said airport authority executives plan to discuss priorities for its funds with the airlines using the airport.
Local Airports to Receive Millions in Covid Relief Funds
