Over the past four years the Biden-Harris administration made infrastructure one of its key spending and development sectors, with more than $500bn appropriated via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
As Joe Biden’s term in office comes to a close, Airport Technology takes a look back at some of the highlights and largest grants given to the aviation sector.
Go deeper with GlobalData
What is the BIL?
Originally known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the legislation was passed by both houses of the US Congress in 2021, being signed into law in November of that year.
The law was originally written with the intention to provide $500bn in funding across multiple programmes, but amendments to the bill as it progressed through the legislative process brought the total spend of the law to more than $1tr.
Sections of the law focused directly on some modes of transport, including passenger rail, while others set wider boundaries for spending on safety infrastructure or modernising and making US transport networks more accessible.
The BIL was not enacted alone, however. It is part of the Biden-Harris “Build Back Better Agenda,” following the Covid-19 pandemic, which aimed to stablise the US economy through public spending and modernisation programmes, often with climate change in mind.
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By GlobalDataThis included legislation on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and aviation safety action made via the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Airport infrastructure
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $25 billion to modernize and upgrade airports and air traffic facilities nationwide, improving passenger experience through expanding capacity, increasing accessibility, and reducing delays,” according to a White House fact sheet on the impact of the BIL.
This $25bn has been spent in two key areas: terminals and air traffic control (ATC). Funding has been “delivered” to at least 400 airport terminal projects, and 1,600 ATC tower regeneration projects have been “completed.”
$20 billion has been spent on airport infrastructure funding, and $5bn has been invested “into critical infrastructure improvements to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control facilities to enhance safety and efficiency for the travelling public,” the US Department of Transportation explains.
The aim of this spending has been to expand the US passenger aviation sector, which fell dramatically during the global pandemic. Many of the airport infrastructure upgrades have focused on increasing passenger capacity.
According to the Biden-Harris administration, this has been largely successful. It has pointed to 7 July 2024 as a thermometer to measure this growth because 3 million passengers passed through US airport security, the most ever in a single day.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg made a similar point when announcing 150 grants via the Airport Infrastructure Grants (AIG) programme.
“We saw a record number of passengers fly during the recent holiday season, and we can expect increased demand for air travel to continue.
“These investments from the Biden-Harris administration are making it possible to modernize our country’s ageing airport infrastructure to meet this demand today and ensure safe, efficient travel into the future,” he said.
The January 2024 funding on runway modernisation was spent in 37 States at both big and small airports. This included $45m on rehabilitation of the 13,400ft runway 17R/35L at Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport in Texas, and Ontario International Airport in California’s $15.2m grant to rehabilitate its 10,200ft runway 8R/26L and reconstruct Taxiway S8.
While some of the grants grabbing headlines have naturally been the larger spends, including Charlotte Douglas International (CLT) in North Carolina, which received $43m for its runway and taxiway extension, not all grants are quite as large. Omak Airport in Washington State (OMK) was awarded $326,000 to repair approximately 600 metres of pavement “that has reached the end of its useful life.”
Away from major airside projects, another arm of the BIL, the Airport Improvement Programme assigned £123m to projects including John Wayne Airport in California’s world-renowned Orange County, which received $3.8m for two new passenger terminal escalators.
Standards and safety
Investments in safety infrastructure and securing high standards were centred on FAA-owned ATC towers, which benefitted to the tune of $5bn across the administration’s lifetime.
1,500 air traffic controllers were to be hired in 2023 “to provide needed capacity nationwide,” according to White House documents.
In 2022, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said: “Air traffic control facilities are the nerve centres of our airspace system, and a big part of the reason why flying is the safest mode of transportation.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will repair, replace and modernise the infrastructure that our air traffic control system relies on to keep the travelling public safe for generations to come.”
At the same time, FAA deputy administrator Bradley Mims explained why the significant backlog in ATC improvements and safety work took precedence for the administration’s ATC spending.
“There’s a great deal of work needed to reduce the backlog of sustainment work, upgrades and replacement of buildings and equipment needed to operate our nation’s airspace safely,” Mims said.
In late 2024, the White House said 1,600 ATC tower upgrade or replacement projects had been completed under BIL funding.
Sustainability and passenger rights
Outside of the BIL, but within the Biden-Harris Build Back Better plan, weight (and money) was put behind the push for SAF uptake.
At the same time, it introduced new rules to protect passengers from “junk fees” and formally required automatic refunds for cancelled flights.
The new Department of Transport rules “requires airlines to promptly provide passengers with automatic cash refunds when owed because their flights are cancelled or significantly changed, their checked bags are significantly delayed, or the ancillary services, like Wi-Fi, they purchased are not provided.”
According to the DoT, it has helped passengers receive almost $4bn from airlines in the US since 2021.
“All 10 major U.S. airlines now guarantee free rebooking and meals, and nine guarantee hotel accommodations when an airline issue causes a significant delay or cancellation. These are new commitments added to airlines’ customer service plans under the Biden-Harris Administration,” it added.
Where these rules are violated, the DoT has more than doubled the fines issued to airlines over customer protection and civil rights violations.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has issued nearly $225 million in penalties against airlines for consumer protection and civil rights violations. Between 1996 and 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) collectively issued $70 million in penalties for consumer protection violations,” it explained.
On sustainability, a 2021 announcement set the intention to produce three million gallons of SAF and set a target of cutting aviation emissions by 20% by 20230.
A key strand of this environmental strategy was the “Airport Climate Challenge” which provided FAA funding for support to begin sustainability initiatives.
The administration said there was an immediate positive reaction from US-based airlines.
“In support of Airlines for America’s new 2030 goal, several airlines have made specific pledges to ramp up use of SAF and advance sustainability across their operations,” the White House said in 2021.
United Airlines, Delta Airlines, and American Airlines all made commitments to use and/or produce SAF in the wake of the government’s push for sustainable aviation, and were followed by commitments from other passenger-carrying airlines and major freight lines.
Several figures and spending commitment details were shared with Airport Technology by the US Department of Commerce.
