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Boston’s Logan International Airport biggest beneficiary of new FAA funding for runway safety

By Frank O'Laughlin, Boston 25 News Staff
By Frank O'Laughlin, Boston 25 News Staff

BOSTON — The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded more than $121 million to airports across the United States to reduce the chance of “close calls” on runways, and Boston’s Logan Airport is the biggest beneficiary of the new funding.

The funding will be used to reconfigure taxiways that may cause confusion, install new lighting systems, and provide more flexibility on the airfield, according to Associate Administrator for Airports Shannetta Griffin.

“The FAA is serious about ending runway incursions and we are putting substantial resources behind our efforts,” Griffin said in a statement. “In some cases, the best way to address safety risks is modifying or reconfiguring existing airfields. These grants directly address those situations.”

Logan Aiport was awarded $44.9 million of the $121 million. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport was given the second-biggest allotment of funds at $39.8 million, followed by Willow Run Airport in Detroit at $12.8 million.

Projects planned at Logan Airport include:

  • Simplifying the airfield layout by removing part of taxiways Q and F
  • Rehabilitating taxiways T, N, and M pavement to ensure safe airfield operations
  • Rehabilitating 10,083 feet of the existing Runway 15R/33L to maintain the structural integrity of the pavement and to minimize foreign object debris

Logan was identified as a recipient of the funding following a string of “close calls,” the most recent of which occurred on Aug. 14 when an American Airlines flight nearly collided with another plane.

The incident involved an air traffic controller telling an American Airlines pilot to cancel a takeoff because a Spirit Airlines flight was close to a line on the runway where planes are supposed to stop, according to the FAA.

Back on February 27, a JetBlue pilot narrowly avoided a collision with a private charter jet on the runway. And on March 6, a United plane clipped a parked plane while pushing back from its gate.

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