Oklahoma City Airports Awarded Federal Aid Grants Amid Coronavirus Slowdown

Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport is set to receive more than $21 million in federal aid to help service debt payments and maintain security and maintenance standards amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That certainly was a welcome relief package for our airports across the country,” Will Rogers World Airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said.

The money comes from a $10 billion airport aid package passed by Congress last month.

Typically, up to 7,500 people pass through Oklahoma City’s airport each day. That number is now down to just 300 passengers each day, a roughly 95% drop.

“That has an impact all the way down the road,” Carney said. “We have no parking, we have virtually no concessions, we have some that are open, little rental car activity, and it just kind of keeps going on.”

Airlines have canceled roughly 45% of flights in and out of Oklahoma City compared to this time last year.

Carney said the multi-million-dollar federal grant is much needed.

“We still have to maintain security. We still have to keep our runways and taxiways, those are ongoing efforts, a daily effort, to keep those in good condition for aircraft arriving and departing,” she said.

Oklahoma City’s Wiley Post and Clarence E. Page airports also received much smaller grants.

“We will get through this,” Carney said. “We need to have a facility that's going to work for everybody and keep our transportation process moving.”