Charlotte airport gets $27M for ‘front of the house’ projects. How they affect travelers

Charlotte-Douglas International Airport will receive millions in federal funding from a program designed to improve passenger experiences.

The airport, one of the busiest in the country, is set to receive $27 million to help fund up to 16 new passenger boarding bridges, the walkways passengers use to get to and from a plane to the terminal gate. The total cost of the project is $86.8 million, according to figures released by the White House.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was at the airport Thursday to announce the grant, kicking off a nationwide tour by Biden administration officials to highlight almost $1 billion in grants. The money will go toward 114 airports across 44 states and 3 territories, Buttigieg said.

It’s the third year of grants given out by the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Terminals Program, a five-year, $5 billion initiative established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which passed in 2021.

“It includes a lot of what you might call ‘front of house’ improvements, things you see and feel when you get ready to fly,” Buttigieg told reporters at preview of the announcement Wednesday.

Charlotte’s plan will make passengers’ “walk from the gate to the seat more comfortable” and help provide “safe, filtered air,” he noted.

On Thursday, Buttigieg described Charlotte-Douglas as “growing, important and deserving” of the grant.

“No matter what brings you to this airport, so much depends on the airport being ready to meet your needs,” he said.

The secretary said the passenger bridges are integral to getting people on and off their flights in a timely manner.

“Even most of us infrastructure nerds don’t wake up in the morning thinking about jet bridges, but if your flight arrived on-time only for you to be waiting to get off that plane because there’s an issue with the jet bridge, you’re thinking about nothing else,” he said.

Officials celebrate business impacts

Buttigieg lauded North Carolina’s congressional delegation for pushing for the grant and “bipartisan” law that funded it, including Democratic Charlotte-area Reps. Alma Adams and Jeff Jackson and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

At Thursday’s event, state and local leaders called the airport at economic engine for the region and the state.

“The economic importance of our airport cannot be overstated,” Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said.

Gov. Roy Cooper added he “knows first hand” that businesses factor the airport’s performance into decisions on whether to do work in North Carolina.

“Getting people from one place to the next in the quickest, safest, cleanest, most convenient way is critical for all of us,” he said.

Lyles and Cooper both also thanked the White House for its push for infrastructure spending.

Federal officials selected Charlotte to announce the latest round of grants despite the fact that other airports will receive bigger awards. But the Charlotte area has been a popular destination for the Biden administration in recent weeks as the president ramps up his reelection campaign, including visits from Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

That drew the attention of the North Carolina chapter of the conservative political group Americans for Prosperity, which called Buttigieg’s visit “nothing more than a taxpayer-funded campaign stop.”

“The millions of dollars in ‘investment’ that the Biden administration is touting are the reason why North Carolinians are struggling to make ends meet; unfunded infrastructure spending is the reason why inflation is eating into hardworking Americans’ paychecks. North Carolina is part of the Biden campaign’s reelection strategy, but it is both transparent and insulting to taxpayers. ‘Bidenomics’ isn’t the solution to Americans’ economics hardships—it’s the cause,” state director Tyler Voigt said in a statement.

Other NC airport grants

It’s not the first time Charlotte-Douglas has gotten funds through the FAA’s terminals program.

The airport received $32 million in fiscal year 2023, which went towards updates to restrooms, hold rooms and circulation areas in Concourse E.

Charlotte requested $167.5 million from the program in 2022 to help fund the $231-million expansion of Concourse A but was denied.

Elsewhere in North Carolina, Asheville’s airport has received $35 million over two years from the program, while the regional airport in New Bern got $5 million in 2023.

Raleigh-Durham International Airport is set to receive $12 million in this fiscal year to fund a portion of a security checkpoint, baggage claim and an inspection station expansion. The state of North Carolina will also get $2 million for the Avery County Airport. Wilmington’s airport will get $4 million.

Raleigh-area Rep. Deborah Ross called RDU’s grant an “historic investment.”

“As one of the major economic engines in our region, the Research Triangle needs a modern, efficient airport to ensure North Carolinians can connect to opportunities across the country and the world,” she said in a statement.

The program is “very focused,” Buttigieg said Wednesday, on helping airports navigate the processes needed to get funded projects off the ground in a timely manner.

Other Charlotte airport projects

New passenger bridges aren’t the only projects underway or completed in recent years at Charlotte’s airport.

The airport broke ground in June on a $1 billion runway that’s expected to be completed by 2027. It’s the final phase of the Destination CLT plan, a 10-year, multi-billion-dollar capital project at the airport.

The new fourth parallel runway will allow for a 20% to 25% increased capacity for arrivals and departures, airport officials said previously.

Other parts of the master plan included concourse expansions and an expansion of the terminal lobby.