New law sets Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport as ‘primary.’ Here’s what that means.

President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Thursday that made Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport a “primary airport.”

The local designation was one of the provisions of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act.

This designation will allow the airport to continue to access funding from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which provides grants for the planning and development of public-use airports. Former U.S. Representative Bill Johnson (R-OH-6) and U.S. Representative Dave Joyce (R-OH-14) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

The Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport designation was pushed for by Ohio senators Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance.

“Today we took important steps to keep air travel safe in the United States while securing important improvements for airports and aviation workers across Ohio,” Brown said. “This bill will bolster infrastructure investments we secured in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and I look forward to working with airports across Ohio to ensure they get the investment they need to make Ohio’s airports – large and small – the best in the country.”

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This story was originally published May 17, 2024 at 12:22 PM.