US awards $968.6m for airport terminal projects

The US DOT Thursday awarded $968.6m to 85 airport projects to address the country's aging and often mocked aviation infrastructure. Some projects will fund new terminals, boost gate capacity, add air traffic control towers, jet bridges, new bathrooms, baggage claim belts and reconfigure security checkpoints. The five-year, $5b airport terminal grant program was approved by Congress in November as part of the $1 trillion infrastructure law. "Airport terminals are not something the federal government has historically invested in. It's typically been local airport owners and airlines that have done that. But the need is evident," White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu told reporters. US airports have often fared poorly in worldwide comparisons and occasionally received ridicule from foreign visitors. "America is a country that brought modern aviation to the world and yet around the world in most rankings of airport quality, not one of our airports rank among the Top 25," US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, adding no one could look at US airports and say "the existing system and existing levels of funding have been adequate."<br/>