by Dan Harmon, TxDOT Aviation Division Director
I hope that everyone had a great fall. It’s been a busy season for the Aviation Division. As we entered the new fiscal year (FY), we were fortunate to receive historic levels of state and federal funding to improve airports across Texas. The legislature maintained the base funding level established by the 88th Legislature in 2023 and added over $130 million in additional project funding for a number of airports across the state. On the federal side, state apportionment more than doubled for FY2025 as a result of the provisions in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill last year. This will go a long way in trying to improve and maintain the 254 airports in our system. The team has been working closely with the airport sponsors to identify and prioritize projects and program funding, and to move designs and construction forward.
We’ve also been working with stakeholders across the state and nation to help shape the next phase of aviation as advanced air mobility and electric vertical takeoff and landing become more of a reality each day. The Emerging Aviation Technology Section has done some great work in this area, and you can read more about their efforts in this issue.
And lastly, big changes are occurring at Flight Services. The legislature provided funding for us to upgrade the state aircraft fleet. We’ve added a Citation Latitude to the fleet, giving us both more seating capacity and greater unrefueled range. We’re also procuring a Cessna Caravan to replace the aging utility aircraft, adding a new degree of flexibility in both capacity and capability. In addition, we received funding to increase the hangar capacity at our Austin-Bergstrom International Airport facility to serve all the state aircraft based there. That’s about it for now. I look forward to seeing everyone at the Texas Aviation Conference in March.
Fly safe!