Palm Beach International Airport and the counties’ smaller airports will receive almost $27 million from the American Rescue Plan Act for an economic boost following a pandemic-induced slump.
“Without it, it would have been catastrophic,” said Laura Beebe, airports director for Palm Beach County, during a news conference Monday with Congresswoman Lois Frankel, D- West Palm Beach.
President Joe Biden signed the legislation in March, designating $8 billion for airports across the country.
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The majority of Palm Beach County’s share — $26.5 million — will be going toward Palm Beach International. Boca Raton Airport and North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport will each receive $148,000; Palm Beach County Park Airport in Lantana will get $59,000; and Palm Beach County Glades Airport is set to get $22,000.
"I feel like we're on our way back," Frankel said.
Beebe discussed the incoming dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act with Frankel, County Mayor Dave Kerner and Nick Parks, vice president of marketing for Discover The Palm Beaches.
“This airport, Palm Beach International Airport, is critical to the success of travel and tourism and job sustainability here in the county,” Parks said.
The airport has an estimated annual economic impact of $5.6 billion.
The county’s airports department had to do a major overhaul of its budget once the pandemic hit, as no travelers meant no revenue, Beebe said.
April marks the end of the tourism season in Palm Beach. That month in 2019, Palm Beach International saw on average almost 24,000 passengers each day. About a month after the pandemic took hold, in April 2020, the airport had 24,624 travelers in all.
The department cut back on shuttle services and didn’t fill open positions. The airport lost out on $1 million a month in parking fees. Beebe used reserves to make sure 170 employees continued to get a paycheck.
“The good news is that we started out in a good financial position. These funds are helping us to ensure that we can recover just a lot more quickly,” she said.
Beebe said the money will be used for payroll, paying down debt and other airport operations.
The county’s airports also received $36.6 million from the CARES Act in 2020.
The losses the airport faced will likely hit harder in 2021, since the pandemic hit Florida just as the county’s tourism season winded down.
While passenger figures haven’t reached pre-pandemic levels, Palm Beach International is making a slow comeback. Beebe added that the shuttle system will likely restart in August, with all concessions in the airport reopened by November.
The airport saw a 46% increase in passengers between February and March of this year.
Just last month, 459,951 passengers traveled through the West Palm Beach airport, compared with 539,480 travelers in May 2019.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach International to get $26.5 million, saving it from 'catastrophe'
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