Struggling Washington airports awarded $3M in pandemic relief funding

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than $3 million in federal funding is going to support Washington airports still reeling from the pandemic.

Senator Patty Murray announced relief funding from the American Rescue Plan will be made available for the airports Tuesday. Yakima Air Terminal-McAllister Field will get $1,342,035 and Walla Walla Regional Airport will get $1,242,589, while several other airports are getting tens of thousands in relief money.

Funding is awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration and comes from $8 billion in American Rescue Plan grants. The goal of this funding is to help airports recover and keep their workers employed.

"As airports of all sizes in our state continue working to recover from the devastating effects of this past year’s public health crisis, it is critical they get the help they need to safely keep workers on payroll, passengers on planes, and goods moving through the skies," said Murray. "I’m glad to see these airports receive this crucial funding I fought to include in the American Rescue Plan so they can continue to play a strong role in supporting our regional economies. I’m going to keep fighting for continued investments in our nation’s air transportation infrastructure to ensure that everyone who relies on our airports can get themselves and their products where they need to go."

This follows the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which provided $25 billion to airports across the U.S. to help them reduce maintenance backlogs, make repairs, reduce traffic and emissions and push electricity and other low-carbon technologies.

Other airports getting relief funding include: