Tester Announces More than $8 Million to Upgrade 13 Airports Across Montana

(U.S. Senate) – As part of his ongoing effort to #ConnectMT, U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced more than $8 million in federal funding to upgrade 13 airports across the state.

“When you live in a place called Big Sky Country, air travel is a necessity,” Tester said. “That’s why it’s critical that we invest in our airports, because families, tourists, and businesses across our great state rely on Montana’s air travel infrastructure to get where they’re going.”

The funding comes from the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which provides grants to airports across the country in order to expand and improve America’s air travel infrastructure.

As a member of both the Senate Commerce and Appropriations Committees, Tester not only helped secure this AIP funding in last year’s FAA Reauthorization Act and the 2019 budget bill, he was the only member of Montana’s delegation to vote for the 2019 budget bill.

The specific grants are as follows:

• Baker Municipal Airport – $2,100,000 To reconstruct taxiways and expand aprons.
• Big Timber Airport – $359,091 To reconstruct perimeter fencing and rehabilitate runway, taxiway, and apron.
• Bert Mooney Airport (Butte, MT) – $188,617 To rehabilitate runway lighting.
• Choteau Airport – $397,980 To construct new snow removal equipment building.
• Conrad Airport – $243,000 To construct fuel farm.
• Dillon Airport – $357,000 To rehabilitate runways, taxiway, apron, and access road.
• Helena Regional Airport – $3,048,308 Rehabilitate aprons, runways, taxiway, and air craft rescue & firefighting building.
• Lincoln Airport – $506,089 To construct new taxiways and rehabilitate runways and apron.
• Ronan Airport – $257,145 To rehabilitate runway, taxiway, and apron.
• Stanford Airport/Biggerstaff Field – $150,000 To reconstruct and rehabilitate runways, taxiways, and aprons.
• Thompson Falls Airport – $147,136 To reconstruct runways, taxiways, and aprons.
• Three Forks Airport – $65,000 To reconstruct runways, taxiways, and aprons.
• Yellowstone Airport (West Yellowstone, MT) – $200,000 To conduct an environmental study.

Air travel is a critical part of Tester’s #ConnectMT initiative, which seeks to connect folks across Big Sky Country—both online and in person—by investing in Montana’s physical and digital infrastructure. Tester helped secure more than $20 million in AIP grants for Montana’s airports last year. And he has already secured more than $25 million in grant funding for airports in Musselshell, Madison, and Ravalli Counties this year.

Tester also recently secured Essential Air Service funding in the February budget bill, so this program can continue to serve airports across Montana, and he is pushing members on both sides of the aisle to pass a comprehensive infrastructure package to repair roads, invest in air travel, and improve access to broadband in Montana.