Helena Awarded $235,600 in FY2027 State Aeronautics Grants

Helena Regional Airport will use a $235,600 FY2027 state grant to pay for pavement maintenance on its crosswind runway, airport director Jeff Wadekamper said, adding that construction will start this summer. “We requested $248,000, and we got $235,600, so yeah, we were very excited to receive that,” Wadekamper said in remarks credited to MTN News reporter Evan Charney.

The Montana Aeronautics Board approved the FY2027 grant and loan awards at its January meeting, and the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division published the full list in its March 2026 newsletter, Montana and the Sky, Vol. 77, No. 3. The table in that newsletter lists grants totaling $3,330,004 and loans totaling $33,304, a combined $3,363,308; multiple outlets have summarized the program as awarding approximately $3.33 million to 46 public-use airports across Montana.

Statewide demand exceeded available funding: airports requested $5.1 million in state assistance for FY2027, and the Aeronautics Board allocated all available state grant funding, the published materials show. Montana operates 126 airports, 71 of which receive federal funding; state grants are intended to support pavement preservation, safety enhancements, and capacity upgrades and to leverage federal dollars where federal eligibility exists.

Several large awards stand out in the March 2026 table. St Ignatius received the largest single grant at $495,000, Cut Bank received $395,892, Deer Lodge received $269,980 plus a $28,264 loan, West Yellowstone was awarded $231,555, and Helena’s $235,600 ranks among the larger FY2027 grants. The table also records loans to Polson ($5,040) and Deer Lodge ($28,264), which together match the loans total of $33,304.

Wadekamper emphasized that Helena’s crosswind runway project is not eligible for federal funds and that state assistance filled a critical gap. “It's not eligible for any federal funding, so we have to come up with a source to keep that runway going for the small aircraft,” he said. He also called the state program useful for maintaining runway availability: “This is one such program that's very beneficial and very helpful to fund keeping that particular runway in use.”

Advocates for non-federally funded airports framed the awards as essential to smaller communities. “Without us, they really struggle,” Cebulski said, quoted by KTVH, adding that state help is “probably one of the most important things is helping the non-federally funded airports in the state of Montana” and noting that “when you have these here half million dollar projects for lighting or fencing, they flat can't afford it.”

The MDT newsletter and the agency’s loans and grants webpage contain the full FY2027 list and funding totals published in March 2026, and Helena officials plan to begin the crosswind runway work this summer under the state award.