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SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City and Logan-Cache airports were recently awarded grants for a combined $15 million from the Trump administration, the Federal Aviation Administration announced in a Friday news release.
But Salt Lake didn’t know about the grant, and Logan may not accept it.
The Salt Lake airport was awarded $9 million to build an apron — an area where aircraft are parked, loaded, unloaded, refueled and boarded — but the airport wasn’t aware it had been granted the money when KSL contacted airport spokeswoman Nancy Volmer on Tuesday.
Volmer said airport engineers and managers won’t comment on the grant and its use until the millions are confirmed by their legislator in Washington D.C.
The Logan-Cache airport was awarded $6 million by the FAA to use for runway repairs, the news release notes, but the airport may not be able to accept the money, said Logan-Cache Airport manager Lee Ivie.
The grant covers 90% of the project cost, the state would put in another 5%, and the airport would be required to supply the remaining 5%, Ivie explained.
“On $6 million, 5% is a substantial amount, and right now we don’t know if we have enough money in our reserve because we have another grant we’re trying to obtain right now for a project next year,” he said.
The airport is currently trying to buy a piece of land south of its runway so that nobody builds structures too nearby, he said. But the 2020 project will most likely eat into the reserve fund, and the runway repair project, which is slated for 2023, may have to be pushed back. The airport could request the grant later if it can’t accept the money now, Ivie said.
The grants are just part of a $485 million federal investment in U.S. airports that was announced Friday. This investment marks a total of $10.8 billion that the Trump administration has given to airports for safety and infrastructure improvements since the beginning of 2017, the news release notes.
“The robust economy is enabling more passengers to travel by air so this Administration is investing billions of dollars in America’s airports which will address safer airport operations, fewer airport delays and greater ease of travel for air travelers,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao said in the news release.
The FAA has awarded millions in grants to Utah airports over the years. In recent months, the Delta Municipal Airport received $4.16 million, the Spanish Fork Municipal Airport was awarded $150,936, the Provo Municipal Airport was given $8 million, and the $26 million St. George Regional Airport project will be funded by the federal organization.
