Flathead Municipal Airport Authority

Flathead Municipal Airport Authority, doing business as Glacier Park International Air, is a U.S. local government entity and airport authority that receives federal grants from the Federal Aviation Administration to fund airport infrastructure development, modernization, and capital equipment acquisition at Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, Montana. The authority operates as a federal grant recipient exclusively; it does not hold federal contracts as a prime or subcontractor.

The authority's federal funding footprint centers on the FAA's Airport Improvement Program (CFDA 20.106), which encompasses traditional AIP funding, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) appropriations, and COVID-19 relief grants. Recent grants fund three primary capability areas: terminal expansion (adding 58,300 square feet of new gates, ticketing, baggage claim, passenger hold rooms, security checkpoints, and drive lanes), airport infrastructure rehabilitation and modernization (runway rehabilitation, taxiway realignment and construction, apron expansion and reconstruction), and capital equipment acquisition (one new Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle and runway temporary closure lighting systems). The authority also received American Rescue Plan Act grants providing economic relief to airport concessions. Representative recent grants include a $24.9 million project grant awarded September 18, 2025, for runway rehabilitation and taxiway realignment with completion through September 17, 2029; a $3.761 million grant awarded July 22, 2026, for terminal expansion through July 21, 2030; and a $1.387 million grant awarded August 1, 2025, for ARFF vehicle and runway closure lighting acquisition through July 31, 2029. Multiple overlapping terminal expansion grants awarded between May 2025 and July 2026 fund complementary phases of the same 58,300-square-foot project, with individual grant awards ranging from $1.042 million to $7.033 million.

Customer concentration is heavily concentrated within the FAA's Northwest Mountain Region, which issued 31 of 63 total awards in the source dataset. The FAA broadly (including the Northwest Mountain Region office) accounts for 45 awards; the Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration accounts for 5 awards with $2.7 million combined potential value; and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission accounts for 4 awards. Activity has grown modestly year over year from 2 awards in 2022 to 5 awards in 2025, with 1 award (the most recent terminal expansion grant) awarded in 2026. One award reaches ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. The authority has not undertaken federal contract work or served as a subrecipient on federal grants; all 63 awards are project grants held by Flathead Municipal Airport Authority as the named recipient and beneficiary.