PHL secures $27.5 million in federal funds for terminal upgrades

Philadelphia International Airport is getting $27.5 million in federal funds for upgrades.

The airport is one of 125 that will receive a total of nearly $1 billion in funding as part of the Airport Terminal Program, a federal effort to address aging airport infrastructure.

Shannetta Griffin, associate administrator for airports at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), called the windfall “historic” in an interview Wednesday.

“It has allowed us to do additional funding for airports to be able to look at things like sustainability and competitiveness and accessibility,” she said.

She also noted that the funding, a product of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, comes as the aviation industry is evolving, with the emergence of new technologies, such as drones and air taxis, and “a greater traveling public.”

“This is an amazing time to be able to put money into our terminals that we usually are not able to do,” said Griffin.

The funding earmarked for PHL will go toward sustainability improvements in terminals D and E, which include upgrading electrical and HVAC systems, according to the FAA. The work is part of the airport’s terminal energy optimization program which received federal support last fiscal year and includes improving the airport’s energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.

Starting in 2022, the Airport Terminal Program began disbursing $5 billion toward airports to address aging infrastructure. The program will disburse roughly $1 billion each year through 2026.

Philadelphia International Airport has received a combined $74.4 million in funding from the program in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

In the 2022 fiscal year, $24 million was awarded from the program to support PHL’s restroom renovation project. The following year, $30 million was awarded to the airport with half of that grant earmarked for the restroom project. For the 2024 fiscal year, the administration announced $20.4 million to improve the airport’s HVAC and electrical systems.

This recent grant is just the latest investment PHL has been allocated in recent years. Since the start of 2021, the airport has been awarded roughly $347 million in federal funding overall, as of February of this year, according to the office of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D, Pa.).

This new funding comes as PHL is preparing to host events marking the country’s Semiquincentennial, FIFA World Cup games, and the MLB All-Star Game in 2026.

The city expects to receive an influx of visitors that year, and PHL is in the midst of several improvements including bathroom renovations, opening two new American Airlines lounges and a Chase Sapphire lounge. Upgrades are also on the way to improve landscaping, wayfinding, and parking.

These improvements also come as PHL has ranked worst in customer satisfaction in the last four years among similarly sized airports in the country in a survey from analytics company J.D Power. Atif Saeed, CEO of the city’s department of aviation, acknowledged the poor rating in September, noting the airport’s aging buildings and that some terminals are nearly 50 years old.

“The current buildings just don’t have the space to accommodate the number of passengers traveling through PHL,” said Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality, and retail at J.D. Power, who noted the airport needs new terminal facilities.

The airport has been in the midst of updating its master plan, which has identified a need for more terminal gates by 2040, The Inquirer reported in April.

PHL opened in 1940 and carried some 40,000 passengers in its first year. Roughly 80 years later, the airport’s traffic has increased to serving over 28.1 million passengers in 2023.