Chennault International Airport Authority

Chennault International Airport Authority, a U.S. state government airport authority based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is a federal grant recipient that performs airport infrastructure rehabilitation and modernization work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Economic Development Administration (EDA). The authority operates as a prime recipient on 94% of its recent awards and holds no federal contracts or contract vehicles; all federal funding flows through project grants under FAA airport infrastructure programs and EDA economic development initiatives.

The authority's federal grant footprint centers on the FAA's Airport Improvement Program (CFDA 20.106), which accounts for 26 of 32 recent awards. Representative work includes $1.4 million awarded August 14, 2024, to rehabilitate 2,200 feet of Taxiway A North; $771,676.67 awarded August 14, 2024, to install new lighting on Taxiway G; $607,320 awarded August 11, 2025, to rehabilitate 5,420 square yards of south apron pavement; and $348,142.11 awarded August 28, 2025, to rehabilitate additional apron pavement. The FAA Southwestern Region dominates the customer base, accounting for 22 awards across taxiway rehabilitation, apron pavement work, tower improvements (rain screen replacement and radio replacement), and taxiway lighting design and installation. Grants span multiple funding sources including IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), COVID-19 relief, and American Rescue Plan Act appropriations. The authority also received a $700,000 tower-radio replacement grant (August 14, 2023) and a $492,771.58 tower rain-screen rehabilitation grant (August 14, 2023), both completing through August 13, 2027. The Economic Development Administration awarded a project grant (award date February 6, 2024, completion August 5, 2029) to expand fire suppression capacity at the airport, including construction of 2,740 feet of 24-inch underground pipe, two 500,000-gallon firewater storage tanks, diesel engines, pumps, emergency generator, and a 3,200-square-foot pre-engineered building. The authority also received American Rescue Plan Act economic relief funding (August 2, 2021) to cover operations, personnel, cleaning, and debt service during pandemic response.

Customer concentration sits entirely with the Department of Transportation FAA Southwestern Region (22 awards) and national FAA offices (4 awards), the EDA (2 awards), and FEMA (2 awards and 2 sub-awards). Two awards reach ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months. The authority's obligated dollars ($48.9 million) far exceed the reported combined potential value ($195 thousand), indicating substantial project advancement and expenditure across the portfolio. Recent work includes two federal grant sub-awards under a Homeland Security & Emergency Management prime grantee (September 19, 2025, and August 19, 2025) for building and facility projects.