PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia International Airport will use some of the $30 million it got from the federal infrastructure bill to expand its capacity for cargo planes, a growing part of its business.
"That is the sound of commerce," airport CEO Chellie Cameron said while pointing skyward as a plane ascended nearby.
"This is just the start of Philadelphia becoming the best cargo airport on the East Coast."
She said the infrastructure bill will advance commerce there, by helping to fund a $1.2 billion cargo expansion that is already underway.
While passenger traffic has rebounded since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's still 30% short of where it was.
Cargo, on the other hand, has continued to grow.
"Isn't this an amazing tarmac? We're basically sitting on a parking lot for cargo planes. What a wonderful thing this is," declared State Senator Tim Carney (D-Chester, Delaware County) as he and other officials stood on the flat, featureless expanse of concrete.
To Carney, the tarmac is visible evidence of the hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefit expected from the cargo expansion.
Cargo has created exactly the kind of opportunity Congress had in mind when it passed the bill, according to Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Philadelphia, Delaware County).
"Philadelphia International has long been an economic engine for our region, and I'm excited about the possibilities for growth that the infrastructure bill will unlock," she said.
"First and foremost, the bipartisan infrastructure law is about jobs."
She estimates the cargo expansion will create 5,000 construction jobs a year while it's being built, and 6,000 permanent jobs.
"This is our chance (for) a once-in-a-generation investment in some of the greatest assets we have in this region," Scanlon said. She predicts the $30 million investment will yield $870 million a year in economic impact.
