PEORIA, Ill. — General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport has received north of $6 million through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act.
The federal grant purports to help airports “prepare for and respond to disruption caused by the coronavirus public health crisis.”
Peoria Airports Director Gene Olson said the money will help just to keep the lights on.
“People don’t understand a lot of our revenue is based on activity,” he said.
“When our activity drops from nearly 1,900 passengers a day in February to maybe 50 or 60 passengers in the latter half of March and so far in April, then a lot of our revenue goes away, also.
“So, this package is really intended to replace that revenue so the airport can stay open and still meet all of our federal regulation obligations and keep the airport open as one of the nodes in the National Air Transporation system.”
Peoria received one of the highest amounts in the state. Other large amounts included Chicago Rockford’s $18,629,312 and Quad City’s $8,063,175.
Olson said the amount each airport received was based on four factors, including number of passengers each airport saw in 2018, which he said was the biggest factor.
Other factors included how much debt service each airport had, how much each airport’s debt service was compared to their cash reserves.
