Blue Grass Airport gets $20 million in federal funding for upgrades

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport is receiving more than $20 million in federal funding for air traffic control tower upgrades and other modernization efforts, officials said Friday.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy discussed the funding during a visit to Lexington. Barr said the work is part of a broader effort to improve safety and keep travelers on schedule.

Barr noted $17 million will support relocating the air traffic control tower and a variety of new technology, including new radios, a new surface awareness initiative, new radars, replacement displays for controllers, a new tower simulation system, and new IP voice switches.

“This is a down payment on what is ultimately needed here,” Barr said.

The representative, who is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate, added that $3.8 million will be used to upgrade the airport’s bathrooms so that they are more family-friendly. Barr attributes the funding to the Working Families Tax Cut Act, which passed along party lines in 2025.

The announcement of additional funding comes as Blue Grass Airport continues planning for a broader modernization of LEX, a multiphase project called Future LEX, and is expected to cost about $500 million.

Airport CEO Eric Frankel said the airport modernization and the air traffic control tower are separate efforts.

“That’s going to be a significant investment that the local community will make,” Frankel said of Future LEX. “But the air traffic control tower is a federally-funded facility, so we cannot control that ourselves, and so we need support of the federal government.”

Secretary Duffy said the federal government is also working on new technology and software for air traffic control systems across the country.

“What we’re doing is building you a brand new air traffic control system with state-of-the-art equipment, and then we’re going to deploy state-of-the-art technology and software to better manage it,” Duffy said. “And that’s going to make the system even safer. But the efficiency, reducing the delays and the cancellations, that’s what’s key.”

Duffy said the software rollout will be measured as it is tested for issues, and the system will retain a level of human influence over air traffic.