FAA awards Syracuse, Oswego, and Cortland airports federal grants for improvements

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse Hancock International Airport will use two federal grants totaling more than $4.6 million for improvements at the facility.

In addition, the Oswego County Airport in Volney and Chase Field Airport in Cortland were allocated smaller amounts for projects at their facilities.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) announced the Syracuse airport funding in a news release Tuesday. The lawmakers announced the Oswego County and Cortland funding the day before.

Syracuse Hancock International will use more than $3.4 million to improve the terminal building and nearly $1.2 million to update the airport’s bathrooms to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Oswego County Airport will use a grant of more than $345,000 to update the existing airport master-plan study to define current and future airport needs. Cortland’s Chase Field Airport will use more than $149,000 to reconstruct 19,000 square yards of existing apron pavement, along with 1,100 feet of existing taxi line pavement.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) allocated the funding, the lawmakers said.

The FAA administers the funding that is awarded through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP).

The AIP provides grants to public agencies for the planning and development of public-use airports that are included in the National Plan of I ntegrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). Funds obligated for the AIP are drawn from the airport and airway trust fund, which user fees, fuel taxes, and other similar revenue sources support.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com