Rock Island Today

Quad Cities International Airport is getting a $2.8 million grant from the federal government to offset revenue losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release.

It’s the airport’s second COVID-19 federal relief grant. It also received $8 million from the CARES act last year.

"The airport is a facility that supports nearly 500 jobs, nearly 100 of which are employed directly by the Metropolitan Airport Authority (MAA), this funding ensures that we can continue to provide the level of service that we are known for while keeping the MAA workforce fully intact,” said Benjamin Leischner, the airport’s executive director. “I want to thank our elected officials here in Illinois and at the federal level for their support of the transportation sector. Air travel is critical to our country’s infrastructure and here locally, the airport’s economic impact is more than $500 million per year. This exceeded our expectations and we are thrilled.”

As the pandemic has lingered, studies are showing that air travel has low transmission rates for COVID-19, the news release said.

“The safety of air travel, paired with the vaccine rollout and pent-up demand are setting the industry up for a rebound,” said Leischner. “We believe the worst is behind us and are cautiously optimistic that we will continue to see improvements throughout 2021.”