Secretary Buttigieg lauds Missoula airport, infrastructure funding

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) Surrounded by state and local leaders, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation on Monday toured the new Missoula Montana Airport and pegged it as a postage stamp for what federal funding has done to help modernize the nation's aging infrastructure while creating millions of new jobs.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg credited the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for helping make the $110 million airport project possible. It's one of 51,000 projects across the country that has received funding from the federal legislation.

“Not one of those projects was invented, dreamed up or drawn out in U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington, D.C.,” said Buttigieg. “Every one of them was a vision that came forward from the community. The ideas shouldn't come from Washington, but the funding should.”

The airport began planning for the new terminal a decade ago and completed Phase 1 in 2022. At roughly $70 million, it represented the largest phase of work.

Now, Phases 2 and 3 are underway and when finished next year, the new terminal will provide the airport the room it needs to accommodate today's aircraft and the growing number of passengers.

“Since Phase 1, you've already expanded flights and attracted two new airlines, which are adding seats, which creates more competition and helps lower ticket prices lower than they'd otherwise be,” said Buttigieg. “Sen. Jon Tester wasn't just somebody who advocated very provocatively for this project and other projects in the region, but he's one of the reasons we have the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the first place.”

Portions of Missoula's old terminal were funded in part by President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program and dated back to the late 1930s. Playing off the term, Buttigieg pegged the recent Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as “The Big Deal.”

In Montana, the program has provided $2.8 billion in funding for dozens of projects that local leaders admit wouldn't happen “but for” the federal investment. In Missoula, the funding also has included $24 million for the Highway 200 corridor project in East Missoula, and $24 million for the downtown Safety, Access and Mobility project, among others.

“It's a level of financial support from the federal government that we haven't seen in my lifetime, and it's sorely needed,” said Buttigieg. “The decades-long mismatch between the growth and change in our communities over time on one hand, and the lack of infrastructure investment on the other hand, is something that was felt all across the country. That has changed in these last few years.”

Among other things, the new airport terminal will more than double the number of gates and offer more room for today's larger aircraft. It also does more to accommodate a growing number of passengers.

Last year, the airport set a new passenger record and given the growing number of seats, routes and carriers, it will soon reach the milestone of serving 1 million annual passengers. Buttigieg noted the economic impact provided by the airport and the work it takes to make it successful.

The Missoula Montana Airport on Monday was also nominated for Newsweek's “Best Small Airport” award.

“This would not be possible without the help of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said airport director Brian Ellestad. “These infrastructure improvements are helping the airport expand and meet the demands of the community, and offer greater, more affordable air travel options and increase connectivity.”

While the federal infrastructure bill to date has funded 51,000 national projects, Buttigieg also billed it as a job builder. In September, the total number of construction jobs in America hit 8 million for the first time, and each month since has led to a new record, he said.

He described them not as jobs, but as “good union jobs” that can change a family's trajectory.

“None of the projects would be possible if it weren't for leaders willing to work across the aisle, like Jon Tester, who knew there was an opportunity to have Democrats and Republicans sit side by side,” said Buttigieg. “They didn't agree on everything, they didn't agree on much, but they agreed on the importance of making sure we had the right kind of funding to do this work.”