The funds, which the FAA announced on Oct. 5, were contained in a larger package of more than $479 million in airport infrastructure grants awarded to 123 airport projects across all 50 states, American Samoa and Puerto Rico. Ontario International Airport was the only airport serving Los Angeles County to receive a grant in this round.
The Ontario airport grant is primarily for the improvement of 832,000 square feet of taxiways and connecting roadways, which will be reconstructed from recycled concrete, asphalt and steel, according to airport spokesperson Steve Lambert. The aim of the grant is to allow for a safer and more efficient flow of aircraft traffic.
It will also fund related airfield improvements, including more LED lighting for runways and taxiways, additional touchdown zone lights installed within the pavement, new signage for all runways and taxiways, and a new electrical control system for the lighting, according to Lambert.
Of the four airports serving Los Angeles County — Long Beach and Hollywood Burbank among them — Ontario International has been the quickest to rebound from the Covid-19 shutdown in the spring of 2020. Roughly 453,000 passengers went through the terminal gates at Ontario during September, down just 3% from pre-pandemic September 2019, according to data compiled by the airport.
