Ready for takeoff: Butte airport projects soar; new improvement plan approved

The Bert Mooney Airport has improvement projects taking flight and additional ones pending throughout 2026.

What’s more, the airfield’s Authority Board approved a seven-year improvement plan during its monthly meeting Wednesday. That blueprint, slated for fiscal years 2027 to 2034, still needs approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and review by the Airport District Office.

In the meantime, the airport’s 2026 projects continue to take flight, in accordance with the Airport Improvement Project, a federal grant program the FAA oversees to fund essential infrastructure like runways and lighting.

Pam Chamberlin, director of the Airport Authority Board, said the airport’s handful of ongoing endeavors are valued at $7.8 million. Among the ventures are a new hangar, expected to be completed by December, and a new storage shop.

“Replacing security gates should be completed this month,” Chamberlin said, adding that sanding units and a new snowplow will be delivered in July.

Enhancements to airfield striping and sealing cracks are also on this summer’s agenda.

What’s more, according to authority board Deputy Director Rick Ryan, two runways and four taxiways will be upgraded with LED lights.

“It’s the first year that we are eligible to receive LED lights,” he said, noting that Bert Mooney’s airfield lights were last changed in 2013 because they may only be replaced “every so often.”

Ryan pointed out that parts for old lights can’t be obtained anymore. “New technology is required, so old parts are moot.”

The FAA’s general rule of thumb for such alterations and upgrades: Airports may replace fire trucks approximately every 15 years, but pavement maintenance — such as when runways fade — can be replaced every five to seven years.

Chamberlin said the FAA provides an entitlement grant of $1.3 million, “so if a project costs more, we have to come up with the additional funds.”

Typically, the $1.3 million requires the board to match at 10%, but the last two years, a 5% match was agreed upon.

"That is why we chose to do some larger projects this year," Chamberlin added.

As for the authority board’s recently greenlighted seven-year proposal, Ryan explained it's elements aren’t set in stone. “It could change depending on our needs,” he said.

The Montana Department of Transportation produces an economic development report measuring the financial impact of U.S. civil aviation every decade.

Its latest executive summary lists figures for five different categories highlighting Bert Mooney Airport’s 2026 financial impact on the region as follows:

Jobs supported annually: 336; labor income: $19.6 million; value added: $28 million; output $55 million; state and local taxes: $2.7 million.

“Most people just don’t know our airport’s economic impact,” Ryan said. “We need subcontractors and general contractors, so we try to hire as many local workers for these projects as we can.”