HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Aviation plays a vital role in Alabama's economy. "I always say Alabama starts with an "A" because we are aviation," Pryor Field Regional Airport Manager Adam Fox shares. " We have got a great airport system. One thing that most people don't know, the total annual economic impact of our airport system is $4.9 billion."
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded more than $5 million in grant funding to five airports in North Alabama, Congressman Dale W. Strong announced last Wednesday. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 grants were administered through the Airport Infrastructure Grant (AIG) program and funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). “The FAA’s investment in North Alabama’s airport infrastructure will support economic development efforts across our region,” said Congressman Strong. “This funding will further ensure the Tennessee Valley has reliable means of air travel and our industry can efficiently move goods to market. As your member of Congress, I am always proud to see our hard-earned tax dollars returned back home.”
AIG program awards, totaling $5,050,568 to North Alabama airports, as follows:
- Huntsville International Airport – Carl T. Jones Field: $4,174,568
- Pryor Field Regional Airport (Decatur): $294,000
- Huntsville Executive Airport – Tom Sharp Jr. Field: $294,000
- Hartselle-Morgan County Regional Airport: $144,000
- Scottsboro Municipal Airport – Word Field: $144,000
"We are kind of in what I'll say is the age of economic development here at Pryor field," Fox shares. "We currently have 57 hangars total at Pryor field. We've got well over 120 based aircraft. We've got a list that is what seems to be as long as our runway, you know, wanting to move here and we don't have space for them.
Mary Swanstrom, Public relations manager at Huntsville international shares that funds will more than likely continue to improve on the customer experience. "Since we just received the allocation, we really have not earmarked that for any project yet," Swanstrom shares. "But I can tell you that we have a lot of construction ongoing at Huntsville all the time to improve the customer experience for our passengers here and right now in process and construction we've got about $60 million worth of projects going on and then looking forward to planning stages. We should have about another 80 million in projects coming up."
Fox says Pryor field will use the money to help with expansion. "We're very fortunate to have this grant and it's going to go right into the pipeline that's going to help build the infrastructure that's going to create jobs here at Pryor field in the state of Alabama," Fox shares. "More specifically, this grant is going to be tied into our great expansion project to the northwest. Phase one is going to be an access road and a taxiway."
These grants come in handy to fill in gaps in state funding. "We're very fortunate here in the state of Alabama. We don't have as many funds available through the state system as our neighboring states," Fox shares. "So, we only have this is kind of a record number, in my opinion, we have about $8 million dedicated to 74 airports across the state of Alabama. It doesn't go very far when, you know, my project on the northwest is 2.6 million. You know, we've obviously got a tremendous airport system that is all screaming the same message, which is let's invest back into the airport system as an investment. Let's get those funds back to our airport so that we can do more economic development, to bring more jobs, more taxes to the great state of Alabama."