Closes in 10 daysOpportunity DOT-FAA-26-0117-002

FY 2027 Notice of Funding Opportunity: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) FAA Contract Tower (FCT) Competitive Grant Program

Airport Improvement Program Discretionary Grants · Department of Transportation

At a glance

FY 2027 Notice of Funding Opportunity: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) FAA Contract Tower (FCT) Competitive Grant Program is an open federal grant opportunity from the Airport Improvement Program Discretionary Grants (Department of Transportation). Applications are due October 19, 2026. Individual awards are listed as $25K – $55M. Applicant types listed as eligible include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments and others (see notice). Cost sharing is not required. It is funded under Assistance Listing 20.117 (Airport Infrastructure Grants).

Summary assembled from the official notice's fields. The official notice governs.

Key facts

Sep 24, 2026Posted
Oct 19, 2026Application deadlinenext date
Nov 18, 2026Archived

Posted: Sep 24, 2026
Close date: Oct 19, 2026
Archive date: Nov 18, 2026
Award floor: $25,000
Award ceiling: $55,000,000
Est. total funding: Not specified
Expected awards: Not specified
Cost sharing: Not required
Funding instrument: Grant
Opportunity category: Discretionary

Who can apply

State governments
County governments
City or township governments
Special district governments
Others (see notice)

Additional information on eligibility (from the notice)

See the link to the FY 2027 NOFO for eligibility information. Eligible applicants are those airport sponsors approved in the FAA’s Contract Tower Program or Contract Tower Cost Share Program as defined in 49 U.S.C. § 47124, and normally eligible for Airport Improvement Program (AIP) competitive grants as defined in 49 U.S.C. § 47115. This includes a public agency, private entity, state agency, Indian Tribe or Pueblo owning a public-use National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) airport, the Secretary of the Interior for Midway Island airport, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. For additional eligibility categories and further details on each eligible applicant category, see AIP Handbook Table 2-1 in the following weblink: https://www.faa.gov/airports/aip/aip_handbook/media/AIP-Handbook-Order-5100-38D-Chg1.pdf. For more information on the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), visit: https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias

Can your organization apply?

A quick check against the listed applicant types — other requirements in the notice still apply.

Based on the published notice. Review the official notice for complete eligibility requirements.

What it funds

Official synopsis as published by the agency, formatted for readability.

The Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces the opportunity to apply for up to $100 million in FY 2027 Airport Infrastructure Grant funds for the FCT competitive grant program, made available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA), Pub. L. 117-58. The purpose of the FCT competitive grant program is to make annual grants available to eligible airports for airport-owned airport traffic control tower (ATCT) projects that address the aging infrastructure of the nation’s airports. The FAA will consider ATCT projects that sustain, construct, repair, improve, rehabilitate, modernize, replace, or relocate non-approach control towers; or acquire and install air traffic control, communications, and related equipment to be used in those towers; or construct a remote tower certified by the FAA including acquisition and installation of air traffic control, communications, or related equipment.

Additional information from the agency ↗

How to apply

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Read the full announcement (NOFO)Eligibility, evaluation criteria, page limits and required attachments are in the full notice on Grants.gov. Open ↗
Confirm eligibility and fitCheck your organization type above; no cost sharing is required.
Register (or renew) in SAM.gov and get a UEIFree. New registrations can take several weeks; registrations must be renewed every year. Open ↗
Set up Grants.gov accessCreate a Grants.gov account and make sure someone has the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) role. Open ↗
Open the application packageUse opportunity number DOT-FAA-26-0117-002 on Grants.gov (Grants.gov Workspace). Open ↗
Prepare narrative, budget and attachmentsFollow the notice's format exactly — page limits and required forms are common reasons applications are rejected.
Submit before October 19, 2026Submit a few days early and keep your Grants.gov confirmation and validation emails.

Assistance Listing

What is an ALN?

20.117Airport Infrastructure GrantsProgram →

Reported obligations under ALN 20.117

Historical data · not a prediction

FY24

—

FY25

—

FY26

$3.4B est.

Source: SAM.gov Assistance Listing 20.117. Program-wide totals, not awards from this specific opportunity.

Who was funded under ALN 20.117

Historical data · not a prediction

Since October 1, 2023, 1,822 grant awards had funding actions under Airport Infrastructure Grants, with 60 sub-awards passed on to other organizations. These are program-wide awards, not awards from this specific notice.

DEPARTMENT OF AIRPORTS OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES$289M
CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER$162M
CITY OF CHICAGO$105M
CITY OF ATLANTA DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION$100M
DADE COUNTY AVIATION$93.3M

Recipients, states, recent awards and sub-awards →Source: USAspending.gov.

Agency contact (as published)

Jeffrey Brown Management and Program Analyst
2022677203

Quick answers

When is the deadline for this opportunity?

According to the official notice, applications are due October 19, 2026. Confirm the deadline and submission time on Grants.gov before applying.

Who is eligible to apply for this opportunity?

The official notice names these applicant types as eligible: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments and Others (see notice). Additional restrictions may apply; review the full notice.

How much funding is available through this opportunity?

Per the notice, individual awards are listed as $25k – $55m.

How do I apply for this opportunity?

Applications are submitted through the official source, not through GrantsJunction. Open the official notice on Grants.gov (opportunity DOT-FAA-26-0117-002), and review the full announcement and application package. Organizations applying through Grants.gov generally need an active SAM.gov registration and a Grants.gov account, which can take several weeks to set up.

Matched on shared Assistance Listings, agency, categories and eligible applicant types.

OpenALN 20.262